Chapter 10: Captured
"Kiba, can you hear me?" Shino repeated for what must have been the tenth time.
Shino, Hinata and Akamaru had all arrived back at the entrance to the base uneventfully, but Kiba had yet to show. It had only been a few minutes so none of them were jumping to conclusions but it was odd that Kiba was not responding to any of their calls.
"D-do you think something happened?" Hinata stammered. For the most part Hinata had been able to refrain from stuttering in recent years but whenever she got worried or stressed she couldn't help herself.
"If something happened we would have heard something over the communicators," Shino replied, remaining calm. "I think Kiba is just still investigating and wants to keep radio silence as to not alert any possible enemies."
Hinata nodded, wanting to believe Shino but deep down she knew something was wrong. Kiba had already reported having finished searching and he should have been back by now. Even if he was still searching he should have given them at least some response, only if it was a few taps to alert them that he was okay.
Akamaru whined, worried as well. He paced back and forth nervously, sniffing at the air from time to time. There was an odd scent that he could smell but it was very faint, as if whatever had made it had only been there for a moment. Even with his acute sense of smell, he still couldn't determine what exactly this scent was. It was familiar, yet strange. Just as he was getting a better idea of what this smell was; another, more familiar small hit his nose.
"Akamaru, what are you doing?" Shino demanded as the giant white dog took off down the corridor which Kiba had headed. Akamaru didn't respond: he just kept on running disappearing into the dark in the distance. Worried, Shino took off down the hall after the giant dog; barely able to keep a pace fast enough to keep the blur of white in site.
Suddenly alone, Hinata hesitated for a moment in the darkness before heading down the hall as well. She had activated her byukagan now and could see Shino and Akamaru a short distance down the hall but beyond that there was nothing. Hinata grew even more nervous. While the halls were long she should still be able to see all the way down with her byukagan, yet she saw nothing.
In the distance Akamaru hurried down the hall at a maddening pace. It had taken more then ten minutes to walk the entire length before, but this time Akamaru had made almost the entire trip in nearly thirty seconds. The bitter scent became stronger and stronger as Akamaru neared the end of the hall until the smell reached its apex and Akamaru skidded to a halt. It only took him a second to locate the source of the smell and when he did he let out a panicked whine.
"Akamaru, what is it?" Shino asked as he finally caught up a few moments later. Being an observant person Shino instantly saw what had caused Akamaru to be so worried.
"What's wrong?" Hinata said as she finally caught up as well. Akamaru had started frantically sniffing at the ground and was now traveling further down the corridor. Also being a fairly observant person, Hinata also quickly found what had caused Akamaru to go into such a frenzy. "Is that...?"
Shino nodded. "It is definitely his," Shino said as he extended his arms to let his bugs escape from their host and search the area. Shino bent down to pick up a small piece of electronics to examine it. It was definitely Kiba's headset. This was why they hadn't heard him come into contract with anyone; his communicator had been removed and broke.
This wasn't what had worried Akamaru though. What had worried the normally fearless beast was what was next to the discarded fragments of electronics. Right adjacent to the broken headset was a small puddle of what was undoubtedly Kiba's blood—and no sign of Kiba.
Akamaru had reached the end of the hallway now and was sniffing at the bottom of the rock wall. His master's smell was still lingering but it ended right at the wall as if he had gone right through it which was strange because the wall seemed completely intact. But mixed with Kiba's smell was now another one that had become much stronger.
"Do you see anything?" Shino asked his remaining teammates as he finished searching the area with his bugs. It would be logical that Kiba would be in one of these rooms as he was no where to be seen in the halls and it appeared he did not force his way out through the end wall; but he had found no trace of him.
Hinata shook her head. She had searched the proximity with her byukagan and had found nothing. She was getting even more worried now. How could Kiba just disappear like this?
Akamaru was still sniffing at the wall at the end of the hallway. Kiba's smell definitely lead to here, but it seemed to go right through the wall. Looking back to his teammates, Akamaru saw that they had found nothing either. This made Akamaru even surer that Kiba was beyond this wall. Growing tired of waiting, Akamaru took a step back from the wall. Crouching low, Akamaru molded his chakra before lunging at the wall, rapidly spinning his body, leaving a gaping hole where the wall used to be.
Beyond the wall lay more forest. Akamaru walked past the hole he had created and sniffed at the ground. It only took a second before he was able to pick up Kiba's scent again and without looking back to see if his team was going to follow, Akamaru took off into the forest, tracking his master's scent.
Shino hesitated, but only for a moment. He knew how Akamaru probably felt right now, but acting so brashly was still dangerous. With a quick glance over to Hinata, Shino took off after Akamaru, signaling for Hinata to follow.
This time it was almost impossible to catch up to Akamaru. If Akamaru had been manic when he had smelled Kiba's blood, it didn't even compare to the complete frenzy he was in now. Even running at top speed, both Shino and Hinata could barely keep him in plain view and had to rely on Hinata's byukagan and Shino's bugs to at least stay on his path.
Up ahead Akamaru was darting from tree to tree at a maddening pace. He was going so fast he almost lost Kiba's scent a few times when the path changed course slightly. Behind him, he could sense his other teammates chasing after him. He didn't know if they supported what he was doing, as it would be easy to get caught in an ambush while running this fast and recklessly, but he didn't care.
He had been with Kiba for more then a decade now and he wasn't about to loose his master now. He could smell the other scent that was mixed in with Kiba's, and he knew who's it was, but even with this knowledge and the knowledge that even if he did catch up, there probably wasn't much he could do; he still moved forward. Akamaru would gladly give his life to even try and save Kiba, and he knew Kiba would do the same for him.
"Akamaru, slow down, we have to think this out," Shino yelled to Akamaru, hoping the dog would listen.
Akamaru ignored Shino's request and kept on moving. Every minute that past could mean Kiba was a minute closer to death, if he wasn't already. If he stopped to listen to Shino, Kiba could die while they were coming up with a plan or he could loose the scent.
The farther Akamaru went the stronger the scent got. Kiba and Sasuke had stopped up ahead and had caused their scent to intensify. Whether they were still there or not they would find out soon enough. So Akamaru picked up his pace, the small glimmer of hope they Kiba was up ahead giving him a boost of energy. As he moved further and further, the scent got stronger and stronger. And then—the scent was gone.
Akamaru had arrived at a river and after the scent reached an apex; it disappeared, lost with the flow of the river. Akamaru panicked. He ran up and down the river but couldn't find the trail again. Even after crossing the river and trying to pick up the scent again, he couldn't. It was obvious what had happened. Sasuke had taken Kiba to the river, and after a short break, had continued to travel on the river, effectively causing Akamaru to loose any scent as well as any hope of being able to track footprints.
Shino and Hinata finally caught up now that Akamaru had slowed his pace to try and regain the trail. Akamaru approached them, trying to talk and tell them what had happened but all that came out was a few indistinguishable whimpers. Even though Akamaru was making no sense at all, they both knew what had happened.
Even though Shino wasn't as frantic as Akamaru, he still wanted to find and rescue Kiba as well; he just wanted to do it in a way that wouldn't get them instantly killed. He had been teammates and friends with Kiba for almost as long as Akamaru and it would hit him hard if he died, but he knew rushing in and getting them all killed would not help Kiba.
"Akamaru, calm down," Shino ordered. Even though he knew Akamaru wouldn't attack him, it was still discomforting to have the giant dog so rabid.
The giant dog complied slightly, but still remained in a mostly manic state. He was pacing uncontrollably and was whining and whimpering.
Hinata had caught up as well and was scanning the area with her byukagan. She had to use almost all her energy to just to keep herself calm and not cry. She knew Shino would reprimand her for crying at a time like this when they needed her to be calm and observant. She just didn't want to loose Kiba. Kiba had helped her through a lot and she didn't want to loose him now. But even though she had managed to keep herself calm, she still couldn't find any trace of Kiba.
"I-I don't see him anywhere," Hinata stammered.
This made Akamaru even more nervous and he started to become more manic. If he couldn't smell Kiba and Hinata couldn't see him then there wasn't much hope they would be able to track him. He knew Shino was a good tracker as well, but he wasn't as good at detecting something that was a great distance away.
"Akamaru, calm down," Shino repeated.
Again, Akamaru calmed down a little, but wouldn't be able to become perfectly calm until he was able to see Kiba again.
"So what do we do now?" Akamaru whimpered, finally able to calm down enough to form words.
Shino stood quite for a moment, contemplating the best plan of action. "I think the best thing to do now may be to leave Kiba and return to Konoha."
xx
"Ino can you hear me?"
Ino groaned and tried to sit up but failed, falling back into her bed. It felt as if all her energy had been sucked out of her body and she could barely move. Ino tried to open her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a coughing fit. Deciding to save her energy for later, Ino just nodded.
"Ino, I need to ask you some questions," Sakura informed, getting right to the point. She wanted to stay with Ino so that she could comfort the sick girl, but she couldn't afford to waste time doing that, she had to be as concise as possible so she could get back to helping everyone else.
Ino nodded, understanding Sakura's dilemma. She didn't want to feel like a burden right now and just hoped that she could help, even in her grave state.
"Ino, is there anything you have eaten or consumed here that could have caused this?" Sakura asked.
Ino thought for a moment. Since more people started to get sick she had only eaten what they had brought with them and before that she hadn't eaten at all. "I don't think I've-" Ino started to say but again was interrupted by coughing fit.
"Don't over exert yourself," Sakura ordered, wiping some blood that Ino had coughed up from the sides of her mouth.
Ino nodded and tried to recompose herself for a moment before speaking again. Speaking was proving to be rather difficult though. Her throat was burning and every time she went to talk she couldn't help but cough. Right now it was even becoming difficult to think of what to say or to even think at all. Her head ached and felt like it was spinning; obviously side effects of the feverish temperatures she had developed. The pain in the rest of her body didn't help much either. Her chest and stomach felt like they were on fire, as if her skin was just melting off her body.
"So did you eat or drink anything while here or come into contact with anything strange?" Sakura asked again.
Ino tried to take a few deep breaths to recompose herself but ended up in another coughing fit. She really couldn't think of anything strange that she had done though that Sakura hadn't though. It was possible that the disease was transmitted through the air and that certain people were just more immune to it then others. But even though this was the most likely conclusion Ino could draw at the moment she still wracked her brain to try and remember anything that could have caused this.
After a moment of thought Ino couldn't think of anything and decided to retrace her steps to try and figure out this mystery. She had arrived and started working on the feudal lord almost immediately and worked in the lab. This must have gone on for at least a day or two and she didn't eat anything the entire time. When she had thought she had found the source of the disease the first time Sakura told her she was just to exhausted and told her to sleep. The nurse had lead her to her room and given her sleeping pills, which she refused, and…
"Water," Ino coughed out. The only thing she had consumed the entire time here was a glass of water she had drained before trying to go to sleep that first time.
"That's the only thing you've eaten or drunken?" Sakura asked.
Ino nodded. After she had drunken that she had tried to sleep and then went back to work and hadn't so much as had another sip or bite of anything.
Sakura frowned. This could be bad if the disease was in the water. But the realization that Ino had only consumed water could have other negative implications. The water that ran to the town was one of the first things that had tested and they had found no anomalies. Even if Sakura knew the disease was in the water there was nothing she could do if she couldn't isolate it. And if water was really the only thing Ino had consumed then that could mean that there was no specific medium that the disease was traveling in and it was just airborne and could not be contained. Sakura had hoped that maybe Ino had eaten some rarer meat or drink that they had failed to test yet and that she could isolate the disease there, but that hope had been diminished.
But even with all these doubts running through her mind, this was the only lead Sakura had been given and she had to use it. Even if she couldn't isolate the foreign substance in the water she had to assume that it was in fact in the water and stop it from spreading further.
This really was a major breakthrough though. Sakura had found the only possible source of the disease and now she could stop it. While it may still be too late for this village, if she could stop the spread of the water to other villages she could stop this plague. The only problem was that she didn't know where the water came from. Most towns, especially larger ones, had their own spring that they tapped water from. With any luck this town had its own spring and the water flow could easily be contained. Outside of this town it seemed only a few people in a near by town had been infected. Most likely it was a smaller town that borrowed water from this town's spring.
Ino interrupted Sakura's thoughts with another coughing fit, accompanied by a few loud groans. Sakura looked down at her ill friend again, growing worried now. Even if she did now know the source of the disease it didn't change the fact that Ino was most likely going to die.
"Ino, thank you," Sakura said solemnly. "I'll do everything I can to stop this, don't worry."
Ino nodded and flashed a weak smile. She was even more exhausted then ever right now and it was becoming a challenge to even stay awake.
"Don't worry, Ino," Sakura repeated.
Ino finally completely ran out of energy, and with one more weak smile and nod fell into a painful sleep once more.
Even thought Sakura wanted to stay with Ino, she couldn't, she had to get on with her duties. Her first priority right now was to stop the flow of water out of this town. Sakura left the room in search of the doctor. Most everyone from the towns government had fallen ill and right now it seemed like the top person in the town was the doctor.
It didn't take long to find the man. Like everyone else in the town the doctor was in the hospital, and Sakura found him tending to some people in one of the several rooms they had dedicated to tending for the diseased people.
The doctor looked exhausted, he undoubtedly had been working just as hard as she and Ino had and at the current moment looked like he was just moments away from collapsing.
"I think I may have found the source of the disease," Sakura said as she approached the doctor, getting right to the point. There was no time for formalities right now.
"What?" The doctor asked, he had perked up considerably after hearing this. It was the closest thing they had gotten to good news in a long time.
"I think the disease may be spreading through the water," Sakura replied. "We have to contain the water here to make sure the disease doesn't spread anymore."
The doctors face immediately went pale.
"Have you drunken any of the water?" Sakura asked.
The doctor nodded. "That's not what worries me though. I've already accepted the fact that most likely I will get this disease. What worries me is that this village gets its water from a river. And that river, once going through a purifying plant to to far down stream from this town, goes to just about the entire fire country."
xx
Kiba groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His whole body was aching with a particularly bad pain in his stomach. What the hell had happened? Where the hell was he? Kiba tried to move but his entire body was bound. His arms tied behind his back and his feet bound together and to the chair he was currently trapped in. The room was pitch black and smelled of mold as well as some other acrid smells. How had this happened?
And then everything came back to Kiba at once. The base, Sasuke, the fight...loosing. So then why was he still alive? And where the hell was he? This place didn't smell like the last base they had been in, so where was it? And where were his teammates? He couldn't smell them anywhere near. Had they realized that he had been captured yet? He hoped that Akamaru and his teammates didn't do anything stupid, he didn't want them to get into any trouble as well.
Without even realizing, Kiba's breath had become ragged and his hands were trembling. He swore at himself for letting himself get so worked up. He had to think right now and he couldn't do that if he was going to start panicking. After a few deep breaths Kiba's heart rate was back to normal and he had stopped his trembling. He had to think of a way to get out of here.
Kiba tried to mold some chakra, but the attempt was futile, the room or something in it was suppressing his chakra and he couldn't call up enough to do anything useful. Kiba found himself panicking again and bit his lip hard, drawing blood, using the pain to calm himself.
So he had been caught. There had to be something he could do. He was still alive, which was a plus, but that most likely meant that Sasuke still had some use for him. This could actually end up being a good thing. Sasuke had taken his weapons pouch which had the scroll in it. Sasuke would most likely check anything in the pouches and find the scroll and he would complete his mission. With any luck, Naruto had some plan and he would be saved. He couldn't put all his hope into this though. Sasuke would obviously see the scroll was embedded with Naruto's chakra and would abandon it. If that happened he had to think of another way to escape.
Kiba's thoughts were interrupted as a metal door, the only way in or out of the room, slowly creaked open. Kiba squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light now emitting into the room from the hall.
Before his vision even came back Kiba knew who it was, he could smell it. Even without being able to use his chakra his smell was still far superior then a normal person's.
"Sasuke," Kiba growled at the man standing in the doorway.
"So you're up?" Sasuke replied nonchalantly.
"Why didn't you kill me?" Kiba asked.
"Because I still have some use." Sasuke responded predictably. "And it would be in your best interest if you complied with me and my friends requests."
"Or else what? You gonna torture me or something?" Kiba spat back. "Sorry but you can beat me to a bloody pulp and I won't tell you shit." It was true. Kiba had never been truly tortured but he had been through a lot of pain throughout his life as a shinobi and he could handle whatever Sasuke threw at him.
"We'll see." Sasuke said, undeterred by Kiba's response. He turned to leave now, he had only come to wake up Kiba, he had no interest in what happened to Kiba from this point on. "Let me warn you though. There are much worse kinds of pain then physical torture can bring." And with saying this, Sasuke walked out and closed the heavy metal door behind him, leaving Kiba in darkness once again.
