Okay, after a while, here's the next chapter! Yay. Also, there's actual plot in this chapter! Yay! Oh, and on a side note, I have a rant down at the bottom that you don't actually have to read. It's just there to make me feel better that I was able to vent.
Rating: T for teen because of language (at the bottom).
Disclaimer: Maya-chan2007 owns Naruto about as much as what her so called friend wrote about her in her book is true. So, I'll never ever own it. That's about a summary of the rant. Please enjoy the chapter! ^_^
Kakashi didn't have to work with the rest of the group any more, as the other counselors came back the next day; something about Gai accidentally booking their trip for a shorter time than they had originally planned, though Gai vehemently denied that this was the case.
Instead, what he said happened is that he was duped at the bus stop, and had his money stolen, so they should be glad with the youthful, if somewhat short, accommodations that he was able to make. Baki hit him over the head when he said that, saying that he had enough problems on his hands.
And no, those problems didn't include his patients; Kakashi asked.
Instead, with all this 'free' time that he had now, Kakashi made sure to spend extra quality time with his own patients.
Things were steadily improving for them, Kakashi was glad to see.
Sakura stopped making dramatic scenes in the cafeteria depicting famous death scenes substituting a spork for the given murder/death weapon of choice.
Sasuke was making more sociable interactions with others, including offering to help others with things, though this was limited to only the others in his counseling group; still, baby steps.
Naruto was starting to take an interest in one of the other patients, so he was spending less and less time exploring the air ducts like he had been before.
And Sai…well, he was interacting more with others, giving them nicknames and in Ino's case even making paintings of others; the nicknames were generally met with hostility, but Sai learned and now calls Ino Beautiful. Coincidentally, she is the only one that he was able to call by a generally accepted nickname ever since Sai figured out what to call people by.
The only downside to all of the good things that had been happening lately was that every now and then, his kids would come in like they had on that one day when he was counseling everyone together. Kakashi just could not get that 'stoned-deer-in-the-headlights-look' that he would sometimes see on their faces whenever this would happen.
It was also around this time when Kakashi was given leave to take a week off. Normally, this would be a good thing, since it would mean that he wouldn't have to work that week, and he would still get paid as if he would.
However, this seemed a little to fixed for Kakashi's liking, especially since this happened somewhat directly after Kakashi started talking to others about his students' strange behavior, particularly when Kakashi finally broke down and began to ask the Akatsuki about this. There wasn't much that Kakashi could actually do about it, though, since his 'vacation' was starting to become more and more mandatory the more he declined. This only increased his suspicions, though what those were, Kakashi didn't know.
Maybe it had something to do with how nobody seemed to like Kabuto, the head doctor at the clinic, particularly the Level Three's. The Level Three's in particular seemed to be positively terrified of the white haired doctor. Whenever it was time for the medication to be passed out, the Level Three's would run away as if their very lives were on the line.
Also, whenever Kakashi actually brought up the medication, or even the 'stoned-deer-in-the-headlights-look' that the patients were liable to have at any given time recently, he would only be met with answers that ranged from 'huh?' to 'what the hell are you talking about, man?'
Finally, when things started to go nowhere quick with questioning the patients, Kakashi decided to enlist the help of the other counselors and Anko.
"So what you're saying is that all this time, you've had this suspicion that something bad, possibly illegal, and you're only bothering to tell us this now?" Anko asked, with one hand on her hip that she had cocked out to the side.
"…When you say it like that, Anko, it makes it sound like we should have known about this ahead of time," Kurenai said, motioning for Anko to sit down again before looking down into the cup of coffee that she held securely in her hands. "And we should have, too. What have we been doing all this time?"
"Caring for the patients, like how you were supposed to. The only reason why I was able to make my suspicions was because my father was on the military force for most of my life, and would teach me things that he learned," Kakashi replied.
"I just can't believe that they are doing such things to my adorable Lee! And Neji and Tenten, too!" Gai protested loudly, only to be shushed by the others. Luckily for them, though, they were discussing things over coffee at a local coffee shop; there was a less likely chance that they would be overheard by people they didn't want to overhear their talks, such as Kabuto and the mysterious reclusive owner, Orochimaru.
Kakashi didn't really know that much about him, having never actually met Orochimaru in person. The most he had ever come to actually meeting him or talking to him was when he received his acceptance for his job after Gai had sent in his application. All Kakashi knew about his boss was that only a few people-Kabuto, Tsunade and Anko-were ever actually allowed to see him, and all Anko would say of him was that he was a snake. Whatever that meant, though he hoped that she didn't mean it literally; having an actual snake for a boss would be rather humiliating.
Asuma seemed to be contemplating something and when asked he only said, "I was just wondering if it was only Kakashi who knew about this."
"What do you mean, Asuma?" Kurenai asked.
"Well, it's just that something Shikamaru told me once has been going through my mind ever since I found out that something-whatever it is-is happening there at the asylum," Asuma started rapidly, seeming to have something very important to say, and wanting to get it out. "Now, you all know that Shikamaru's a bright boy, just a little much too lazy for anyone to take seriously sometimes. Well, one day when we were playing Shougi-"
"You mean when you were supposed to be counseling them?" Anko asked sarcastically; apparently she was still upset that something had been going on in the asylum without her knowing it.
"-and in passing conversation he told me that something 'troublesome' was happening there. At the time I thought that it was just something that the patients say sometimes, like really we're just using them as experiments, or we're abusing them in some way and I told him something along the lines of, 'yeah, I'll be sure to keep a look out for that,' and he sort of sighed, muttered 'troublesome' under his breath, and continued our game by beating me. Again. Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is that now that I think about it, he might have known," Asuma finished up before taking a drag on his cigarette.
Silence overcame the group of adults as they contemplated what Asuma said about the genius kid, before Baki-the only one who hadn't said something yet-spoke up. "The kid's not the only one who knew." At this, every head spun to look at the newest counselor.
"What do you mean he's not? Did one of your kids say something?" Anko asked sharply.
"No, what I mean is that I knew. That's why I'm working there, actually," Baki said, looking uncomfortable under the stares that he was receiving.
"I think you better explain yourself, Baki," Kakashi said calmly, though with undertones of slight anger.
Sighing, Baki leant in to explain; the others instinctively leant in, too. "I'm actually part of the Secret Remote Squads of both Konoha and Suna. I was sent here after we received information secretly from one of the patients at the asylum. We don't know who it was that sent the tip, but I think I've narrowed it down to one of the Level Threes. At any rate, the information that we received said something along the lines of how the administration was secretly doing medical experiments on certain patients, and then using that data to either sell to the medical community, and thus pay for expenses, or selling it to certain terrorist groups to use as chemical warfare-or, something along those lines. I was sent in to figure out if any of this was true, and if so, figure out who was doing it and then send this information on to my superiors for them to stop it."
"So…this is true. And we know what's going on, now," Anko said softly to herself, looking at the table in front of her in a dazed manner.
"How can we help you in this endeavor to thwart this most evil plot against our patients?" Gai asked with fire burning in his eyes.
"Well, you can keep your eyes open for now. Also, Kakashi, you seem to be on good terms with some of the Level Threes. Could you see if they know anything about who sent the tip?" Kakashi nodded here. "Good, and if you do find out who sent the tip, find out how they know this, and how they were able to get the message to who it needed to go to; the asylum's built like a fortress, it's supposed to be virtually impossible to get word out to the outside world, so the fact that whoever sent the tip did is a feat in itself," Baki explained.
"Wait, before you said that this was a joint operation with both Konoha and Suna; why is it that Suna's involved?" Kurenai asked, having just remembered that little bit.
"Well, I'm originally from Suna, but why they're involved is because the former Kazekage's children are going to the asylum; in fact, they're my group. Suna is preparing for Gaara to become the new Kazekage when he gets better, and for obvious reasons, they're against what's allegedly been happening at the asylum," Baki said, gesturing slightly with his hands.
After a few more minutes in which everyone was given particular jobs to do, such as Anko making sure that the rest of the administrative staff didn't know what was happening, the group of adults broke up their meeting and went their separate ways, each with the same thought in mind.
I'm going to get these bastards if it's the last thing I do…
Okay, so I'm finally getting the ball rolling plot-wise on this thing! Finally, huh? It just occurred to me when I sat down to type this that I really needed to start on them figuring out what's going on, don't I? So far I've just been drawing things out, but hopefully this chapter makes up for it! In other news, I'm moving up to my college this Friday! And my classes start about a week later. That means that I'm not going to be able to update very quickly, though thinking about it logically, maybe, it might still be with the speed (or lack thereof) that I've been updating before. Oh, well, the point is is that I'm not going to forget this, but it may still be a while. But please review!
And now, for anybody who cares, here's my rant! You don't have to read it, I'm not putting it here for sympathy or any of that crap but to have somewhere to vent.
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Okay, so my so-called friend wrote a book. Yeah, good for her and all that, but she wrote about me and a few other people in it. I already knew that, 'cause she had told me and our other friends about it, but when I read an excerpt from it when it was finally published, well, I'm just glad she decided to change our names in it. She put me as some atheist-have-no-religion-but-still-thinks-I'm-better-than-everyone-else-and-that-everyone-else's-religion-is-crap type of person. She also had me dissing not only her, but apparently I also go on about how religion is just so stupid, and how I'm apparently a hypocrite because while I'm intolerant to other's religious choices, I also apparently used to go on and on for hours about how the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses were the best in middle school. Bull. Shit. What with the whole religion-thing, you can so tell that we're from the country, can't you? Now, I'll admit that I did get into a fight with her, but not because I was dissing her about her religious choices, in that she chose to have one. No, what we really got into a fight about is that she doesn't really get along with a lot of people, including one of my other friends, who was in the lunch line, and she (the 'friend' who wrote the book) was talking about ways to make her sit somewhere else, when I told her that anyone had the right to sit there, since it was a free country, and she didn't have any right to decide who sat where, since she never ate with us regularly, and only after the school year had been in session for a while. But that's not what gets me. What gets me is that after all we'd been through, being friends since elementary school, when she changed in middle school, and keeping all these secrets from people, and then she has the nerve to write a book about poor little her, with apparently nobody who wants to be her friend, and who people think she's just so messed up, when she's the one who cuts herself and other things, and then she says the unbelievable things about the people who were her friends. She is just so self-centered that she can't see it. At any rate, there's my rant. If you actually decided to read this, sorry for wasting your valuable time, but thanks anyway for reading this.
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