Nine-Not a Drop to Drink
"….or stuck in some damn rock," Kankuro finished, his nose millimeters away from a smooth rock wall. He could not resist the urge to pat his nose to make sure it was still there. "Shit!"
"Damn." Kiba shook his head. "You okay boy?" he asked Akamaru.
The big dog shook himself, sending white fur flying. He barked twice.
"That's good." Kiba looked around and sniffed. "There's water here. A lot of it. And I think I smell more of those things that attacked before."
Kankuro touched the end of his nose again, just to be sure, then ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the wall in front of him. "This isn't just from water, it's been carved somehow. This place is deep, deep underground." He ran his fingers over the wall for a few more moments. Then he gave his head a shake. "We should get going, before they realize we are here."
"I think it's too late for that already." Kiba could feel a chakra pulse headed their way.
"Damn it!" Kankuro pulled his scrolls from his back. He could imagine what was coming and there was little time to get ready. He cursed Ebizo for throwing them right into the middle of a fight without any chance to come up with a strategy. Kankuro looked around, they were going to have to think fast. He noticed narrow openings in the rock close to the ceiling. They looked like they might be some sort of air exchange vent or maybe some sort of drain. Whatever they were, they looked just big enough to hold Karasu and Kuroari. With a few quick signs, his puppets popped into existence and he sent them towards the ducts, folding the puppet small so he would fit.
"There's water coming. A lot of it," Kiba said. "Where do we go?"
Kankuro shook his head. "There's no place to go."
"What?"
"Brace yourself, I think we are going to get wet."
"What? Wait, don't you have some sort of plan?"
"Maybe. For now, stop talking and get ready to hold your breath," Kankuro said, a plan starting to form in his head. He was trying to remember what Ebizo had said about the place.
"Oh, shit here it comes!" Kiba backed against the wall.
"Stay with your mutt as much as you can. Try and get a lock on the chakra behind the water as soon as you can. Do Gatsūga when you see my signal," Kankuro ordered.
"What? In here? That's crazy!"
"This place is solid rock. These walls will hold it. You'll have to scatter the water. It should disorganize the chakra and he'll lose control. Then go after him. Once he is down, the water will not be a threat anymore. I'll get the person controlling the metal creatures."
Kiba started to protest.
"Just do it!"
Kiba caught hold of Akamaru's collar and did as he was ordered. Kankuro flattened himself against the other wall and tried to breathe deep in preparation for what was coming.
The water came at them. Kankuro had feared it would smash them against the rock, knocking them senseless, but instead the stream split into two parts as it surged around a corner and surrounded the two shinobi and the nin-dog in large spheres.
Kankuro tried to remain calm and not thrash around, that would just waste the precious oxygen in his lungs. He could see Kiba and Akamaru were trying to do the same thing. Kiba's eyes were huge. Kankuro folded his hands together; he might only get one attempt at what he had planned and he did not want it to fail. He hoped that Kiba would be able to control his jutsu well enough to take out the person controlling the water. Whenever he had seen Kiba use Gatsūga it had been in the open. He would just have to hope that Kiba would be able to adapt to the tight space.
Kiba started to struggle, bubbles trickling from his nose. He was trying to push his way out of the bubble of water, but it just moved with him. Akamaru was staying still, but Kankuro could see an almost human expression of distress on his face.
He closed his eyes and visualized what he wanted to happen; waiting until the pulse of chakra sending water at them faded a little. It would have to be quick and clean. Kankuro unfolded his hands and flung them out, casting chakra strings straight out. He made them as thin and strong as he could to cut through the water. They blasted out; moving faster than the eye could follow and latched onto Kiba and Akamaru. With a hard jerk, Kankuro pulled Kiba and Akamaru free, flinging them both down the tunnel and away from the water.
Kiba stumbled back to his feet and looked back. Kankuro was waving at him with one hand while the other controlled chakra strings. They slashed at the water, not allowing it to reform and come after Kiba.
Akamaru barked and took a few steps down the tunnel. He had a scent and it was not too far away.
"Good boy," Kiba said, fingers starting to work the signs for the jutsu. They had to get to their opponent fast.
Kankuro kept working his chakra strings at the water mass to keep it from reforming and chasing after Kiba. Small water globules kept trying to slip off down the tunnel and it was getting hard to keep track of them. His lungs were burning. He hoped that Kiba would be able to disrupt the attack before it was too late. He worked the air in his lungs up and down trying to extract the last bit of oxygen. A dull rumble vibrated through the water and moments later the water began to tremble. His vision was starting to darken around the edges. He transferred some of the chakra strings to the water around him to try and disrupt the jutsu controlling him. Just as the primal need for oxygen forced him to inhale, the bubble of water disintegrated. He collapsed to the ground, gasping, and trying to spit out the water he had inhaled. After a few moments, he got to his feet.
"Way to go, mutts," he muttered.
Kankuro snatched his hood off, wrung it out, and gave his head a shake to clear the water out of his ears. He jammed the sodden mass back on his head and adjusted it. It probably looked ridiculous, but he did not want to give up the protection it gave him. He adjusted his belt and then flexed his fingers. Moments later Karasu and Kuroari slipped out of their hiding spots.
"Alright then, let's go kick some ass!"
He took a few steps down the tunnel Kiba had taken. There was a loud bang and a pulse of chakra that Kankuro recognized as a blend of Kiba's and Akamaru's. He followed the tunnel until it split, then paused to decide what to do. He could sense chakra from Kiba, Akamaru and one other from the left fork, but no one else. Since the thing that had attacked Ebizo was not controlled by chakra he was going to have to find another way to track the person behind it.
Kankuro adjusted his hood again, thinking. After a moment, he headed down the tunnel without the water.
"The controller for those things will be electric, that doesn't mix too well with water. C'mon guys let's go squish some bugs."
Kankuro pressed himself against one side of the tunnel and transferred the control of his puppets to one hand so he could draw a small smoke bomb from his belt. He regarded it a moment. "Fucking water. So much for misdirection and stealth." He drew a kunai instead and rounded the final bend in the tunnel. It opened into a large room with a high ceiling.
A girl was standing in the center with a couple of bags. There were small metal insects piled around her. She was wearing what looked like some sort of control device on one arm and on her head. A metal band circled her neck and held electrodes at her temples and a small screen near her eye.
Kankuro advanced into the room. "Put that shit down and back away from it. This is over."
Ryo laughed at the advancing shinobi. He was dripping wet with a floppy hood that had slipped over one eye. She knew that many puppeteers wore face paint and used kabuki inspired designs. Whatever the Sand shinobi had drawn on his face before coming after her had started to run. The paint around his eyes was smeared and there were lines of purple running down his neck and chin.
"Nice clown face," she jeered.
"Fuck you," the shinobi snarled. "This is over," he repeated. "You guys are done. Your partner is going down right now. Turn that stupid thing off and come with us."
Ryo laughed again.
A low rumble echoed down the hall and there was a loud yelp followed loud yells that sounded like Kiba.
"I think you are wrong about who is going down. You killed my friends, you made us all exiles, and now you are going to pay for it! You, your freak brother, and your whole village."
"I have no fucking idea what you are ranting about." Kankuro took few steps closer and moved his puppets into position."
"It was you... and those Leaf shinobi. When you interrupted the jutsu it led to the end of the Shitenshonin. You killed my cousin! All you do is destroy people," she said. "It's been like that for years. Kondo worked hard to build these wells and then he was cast out too. But that all ends right now." Ryo flipped the switches on the controller and her insects buzzed to life.
The shinobi launched his puppets at Ryo, so she directed the swarm at them and sent the scorpion scuttling behind Kankuro. He whirled around at the last second and batted the creature away. The scorpion bounced off the wall and straight back at Kankuro. Karasu and Kuroari were too far away to be diverted to use as a shield or let the creature fly into a chest cavity where it could be held captive so he raised a kunai. The creature was moving so fast it impaled itself on the blade. The creature twitched hard and wrenched the kunai out of Kankuro's hand. It lunged at him again and Kankuro grabbed the hilt of the kunai. The scorpion jerked hard, giving Kankuro's arm a painful wrench. He ran at a nearby wall and smashed the scorpion into it, twitching away from the pincers snapping at his face. He snarled and worked the fingers of his free hand.
Karasu dove down at Ryo. She flipped some switches on the neural interface. Dozens of small metal insects, each the size of a pea rose into the air to meet the puppet's attack. The small projectiles swarmed around the puppet. Kankuro had a sudden terrible flash back to the last time small insects had attacked his puppets. They swarmed around the puppet, trying to work their way between the joints to get at the gears that controlled their movement.
Well at least they aren't after the chakra, Kankuro thought.
He spun his puppets in a fast circle trying to dislodge the insects. Some were flung away by the motion while others continued to work their way inside the puppets. He spun their gears as fast as he could and the sound of bodies crunching made him grin. More kept coming though and soon Karasu started to get too heavy to move.
He thought hard, trying to come up with a strategy. There was no chakra to disrupt or gen-jutsu to counter, just an endless supply of small, lethal weapons.
Then he realized that he knew just how to stop her. He would do what countless others had tried to do to him (and failed). Ignore the puppet and take out the puppeteer. If his hands were not already busy, he would have smacked himself in the face for not thinking of it earlier.
He released Karasu and the insects converged on him, their metal pincers screeching against the metal gears. His chakra strings went after Ryo, aiming to latch onto the interface around her neck. Ryo tried to dodge them, but she had backed against a wall to be on guard from attacks from behind and now she had no room to maneuver.
When he was younger Kankuro had spent several weeks tormenting Temari after learning how to use his chakra strings to mess with outlets and light switches. A little pulse of chakra at the right time and trying to turn on a light switch would leave your arm and fingers tingling. It had been great fun until Temari had figured out what was causing it. Then she had told Baki and Kankuro had been assigned extra chores, had been scolded, and had to wait in suspense until Temari decided to take her revenge. However, he did not abandon the trick and over time he had improved it. The controls Ryo was using had to be like an electrical switch, so the technique should work just the same.
Kankuro felt a tingle travel up his fingers and then his arms when he connected with the electrodes. It got more intense, turning from a tingle, to a buzz, to a burn that he could feel in his joints. There was more energy than he was used to, but he was certain that he could redirect it at Ryo.
Ryo grimaced and then began to fumble at the controls. "No way. You can't!" She could not believe that the shinobi was using his chakra to short out her systems. She could feel the contacts burning against the skin on her neck and at her temples. She clicked switches and spun dials, but the unit did not respond.
The metal scorpion twitched. There was a flash as something popped inside of it and the smell of ozone filled the air. The small insects began to pop and sizzle like small metal kernels of corn.
The grimace on the shinobi's face turned in an awful grin. He flipped the scorpion off his kunai and stomped on it. Small gouts of flame spurted from under its carapace.
"Snap, crackle, pop!" the shinobi exclaimed. "That's it bitch, this is over!"
He advanced a few steps towards her, fingers flying in a new pattern.
"No!" Ryo's fingers flew on the controls. There had to be some way to stop him. Ryo had had complete confidence that her machines would dominate any jutsu the Sand could throw at them. She had been told that the old man who knew these passages would not cooperate well with the village council which would allow them plenty of time to execute their plan in peace. And while the first strikes had caused fear among the civilian population, their big attack had been stalled. The villagers had defended themselves and then sent someone after them with more speed and power than they had anticipated. The puppeteer was wet so he had probably faced Kondo, but he had somehow survived. Ryo had heard shouts and growls echoing through the tunnels so maybe the puppeteer had some help, but she had no idea who it could be.
And her fight against Kankuro was not going as she had expected. Not only were his puppets much faster than she had thought, the shinobi was somehow launching an attack at her with his chakra strings, interfering with her equipment and doing damage to her metal insects. He was not supposed to be this good; there had been no puppet guild in Suna since Sasori's defection and thus no way to train new puppeteers. But he had learned from someone, and learned well.
At this rate, he was going to destroy all her weapons. Ryo tried to think of what to do. She could feel his chakra; it was so strong and focused she could see it. Somehow it was interfering with the signals from her controller. It must be because he had an affinity with lightening. Maybe she could use that to turn the impulses against him. She adjusted the controls again and the rest of the insects dropped to the ground. With a few more adjustments she had things set where she wanted them. She turned up the power.
The air crackled where the electricity met chakra and Kankuro cried out in pain. She had somehow realized that he had an affinity for electricity and had done something to use chakra stream as a conduit for the impulses generated by the machine she was using. She made some more adjustments and turned a knob to its highest setting.
"Shit! Stop!" Kankuro realized what was about to happen and made a sharp gesture, terminating his chakra strings. He hissed in pain. The sudden break in the flow of chakra meant that he was not insulated from the electrical impulses he had been controlling and the sudden shock of pain in his chest made it hard to breathe. He dropped to one knee, clutching at his chest with one hand.
Ryo slapped her hands to the device around her neck and temples, but could not remove it fast enough. She screamed as the energy entered her body and the smell of burned flesh joined the scent of ozone.
Ryo staggered towards him, hands reaching out and flailing wildly. Kankuro lurched to his feet and backed away and after a few steps she fell to the ground.
Kankuro reached out to touch the device, ready to pull his hand away if there was any sign of sparks. Ebizo would probably want to see it. After a quick inspection, he pulled his hand away and wiped it on his trousers, the controller was nothing more than a lump of melted metal and he was pretty sure that the circuits inside had been damaged beyond saving.
He scooped some of the insects into a belt pouch and tucked remains of the scorpion under his arm and went off to find Kiba.
He turned the corner and the tunnel opened into a cavernous room; the ceilings were so high it was hard to see the top. Kiba and Akamaru were on the far side, standing over a body. Kankuro could see that the walls were cracked in some places.
Kiba whirled around, one arm hung limp at his side and he had a kunai clutched in the other hand. "Hey, it's about time. What took you so long?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing." Kankuro limped closer. The fight had aggravated the wound on his thigh. "This must be the guy."
"Yeah. I can't believe it was just the two of them." Kiba turned to Akamaru. "You okay boy?"
The big white dog barked and shook, spraying water over everyone.
"Ah, fuck. Stop that."
Akamaru gave a few more shakes and then sat down, panting.
"You know your makeup got a little smudged?" Kiba pointed to his face.
"Shut up. Is he dead?"
"Yeah. No one told us we had to bring them back alive," Kiba said before Kankuro could make any comment.
"Hey, I don't have a problem with it. That's the sort of weak thing you Leafies usually do. So Gatsūga worked?"
"Yeah mostly. We kept blasting away the water attack until he was tired out. So, what do we do now?"
"We should check to see if there are any more of them."
"I can't sense any other chakra. Are you sensing anything, Akamaru?"
The nin-dog shook his head and barked several times.
"He says there's no one alive. There's a dead body that way." He pointed.
"Okay so I guess we need to figure out how to get the hell out of here.
Something rumbled below their feet.
"What was that?" Kiba said.
"I don't know."
"More of them maybe? Someone who could hide their chakra?"
"Maybe."
There was another rumble. It was closer this time. Kankuro realized what was happening.
"Shit! Remember what Ebizo said. We had an hour before the tunnels shifted. C'mon we have to get out before things start to rearrange."
Kiba pushed damp hair out of his face. "Right, well lead the way. The old guy gave you the map."
"Ah fuck!" Kankuro reached into a pocket and pulled out a wadded mass of damp paper. "Useless!"
"So, we just look around until we find a way. Akamaru can do it no problem."
Something rumbled under their feet and the walls began to vibrate.
"Then he had better find a way and fast. I don't think we want to be in here when these walls start moving."
"You got that right. C'mon boy, let's get out of this crazy place!"
Akamaru barked his agreement and cast about for a scent. After a moment, he barked again and ran off the tunnel. The shinobi followed. The nin-dog led them along a twisting series of passages, pausing now and again to get his bearings. After a few minutes Kankuro noticed that it was starting to get warm and humid.
"We must be getting close." Kankuro grit his teeth and kept running. His injured leg was starting to tremble.
When they reached the entrance, they found a body lying just inside. Kankuro thought it had been a guy, but it was so shriveled and dry that it was hard to tell.
"Who the hell is that?"
Kankuro shook his head. "I have no idea."
"What happened to him? Was that from the heat?"
"How the hell should I know? Maybe."
"It's hot out there. We can't go out there!" Kiba said.
"Well we can't stay here." Kankuro looked behind him. "Shit!" Behind him the walls were starting to move. A slab of rock was sliding towards them. It was not moving fast, but at some point, it would push them out into the desert. That was unless it crushed them first.
Kiba was looking outside. He had been soaked when they had started to run, but now his hair and clothing were just damp and he could feel the heat sucking the remaining moisture out.
"We can't go out there," Kiba repeated.
"We sure as hell can't stay here much longer." Kankuro squinted out into the desert. "It's well past noon so it won't get any hotter and once the sun goes down we should be okay. We just have to survive until then." He chewed his lip, thinking.
"How long is that?"
"Three maybe four hours. Damn it," Kankuro cursed. "We won't last that long." He scanned the walls, trying to think of something. If they could stop the movement of the rock they might be able to survive in the shelter of the entrance.
Kiba gulped. The wall of rock was still rumbling towards them. He edged closer to the entrance and could feel the heat increase. His clothes were dry so he could really feel the heat now. The dampness had been protecting him a little.
"Too bad we can't take some of this water with us to keep our clothes damp."
Kankuro grunted, only half listening.
Akamaru whimpered and rolled in the water remaining on the floor. The dampness was helping to keep the terrible heat from him. He wiggled around, trying to get the moisture right to his skin.
"That's not a bad idea, boy," Kiba said. He knelt and splashed water over his face and clothes.
Kankuro made a surprised noise. "Huh! You are right. It is a good idea. Shit! It might work. But where can we get enough water?" Kankuro looked around, he was pretty sure he was not going to find any handy containers lying around. He was never that lucky. Instead all he saw was Kiba, Akamaru, and his puppets. This time he did smack his forehead. Yet again he had missed the obvious. His puppets were hollow. "Aw crap, it will be hell on the gears, but it might work. If they are quick to find us," Kankuro muttered. "It won't be much, but it might be enough."
He peered out the entrance again. "Can you make us a big pile of rocks out of that ridge over there?" he pointed.
"Sure, no problem, but how will that help?"
"We'll need to make our own shade. That ridge isn't very high and the sun isn't behind it, but if we relocated some of it over there," he pointed to a spot about five hundred meters from the opening. "It might give us some shade and that just might make a difference."
"Okay."
"You two should get good and wet before you go."
"Right. What are you going to do?" Kiba asked.
"Get us a water supply. We will sit in the shade and use the water to keep our clothes wet while we wait for the search party that is supposed to come after us." Kankuro just hoped that the old man would do what he said. "If they don't take too long, we should be okay."
"And if they can't find us?"
Kankuro pointed to the body on the ground.
-0000-
Temari adjusted her respirator. "Are we close?"
Baki consulted the map. "The entrance should be nearby." He checked the timer they had brought. "Or at least it was. Our time is up."
"Are you sure you are reading it right?" Temari peered over his shoulder to look for herself.
Baki did not reply. He knew that Temari was worried about her brother. He was not sure exactly what was going to happen when the tunnels rearranged, but Ebizo had made it clear that Kankuro and Kiba needed to be out of the area before it happened.
Temari started to say something else, but then stopped. There was a faint vibration under their feet.
"Oh, what now?! Is that an earthquake?" She looked around.
Baki dropped to one knee and placed his palm on the ground. He could feel the scorching heat through the layers of his protective gear. He shook his head. "No. It must be starting."
"What?! Can we use the vibrations to find our way?" Temari asked.
"Maybe." The tracker cast around trying to pin point the source of the disturbance. "Wow! It's all around. The place must be huge. The pulse is all over. It's too big an area to search quickly."
Temari made a frustrated noise. "What do we do then?"
"I'm not…" the tracker stopped. "What was that noise?"
They all listened.
"That's barking! It's them! Which way?" Temari demanded.
The tracker cocked his head, listening. "That way." He pointed.
The rescue squad hurried towards the sound. The barking repeated, but as they searched it grew fainter, and then stopped.
"We should stop and try to pick up the trail again," Baki said. "That pile of rocks should give us some shade."
The tracker peered ahead, shading his eyes. "Right. Wait! Those are more than just rocks. I think they are puppets."
They hurried over. One of the puppets was stretched over the top of a circle of rocks providing shade. Temari could make out dim shapes. One of the figures moved and the big white nin-dog lifted his head to look at the approaching shinobi.
Akamaru panted a greeting and then whimpered.
One of the trackers knelt, whipping out his canteen. He poured a small amount of water into his palm and over his fingers and held it out to the nin-dog. "Good boy. Just a little now and then we'll get you home.
"How are they?" Temari asked.
"Alive, just passed out or maybe asleep." The tracker felt around the area. "It's damp in here. How did they manage that?"
Temari peered in over his head. Then she put her hand on the side of one of the puppets. She could feel a small stream of water leaking. "They're filled with water."
"Water? From where?"
"From the wells, where ever they are. They sat in the shade under the dripping water."
"That's clever."
"Yeah, sometimes the idiot manages to be a bit smart," Temari said. "C'mon let's get them home."
