Living Twice
Hey you guys! Thanks! The hurricane downgraded into a tropical storm! Really! That's some damn good news, am I right? Also, I have even better news…today, is the one year anniversary of this fic!
Woot! (Pops open a champagne bottle) Yeah, that's cause for celebration. Long live Living Twice: Altering the Present, and may it achieve its ending!
Hurrah! Free cookies for everyone and three more cheers for no calories!
20.
Orochimaru was half-thrown off in mental balance as he saw the dead bodies of his most trusted aide and one of the primary keys to his invasion of the Hidden Leaf village. He glared down at the body of the boy who lay unconscious before him. The very boy who had caused this and had very nearly caused the death of (Orochimaru) himself.
The Ichibi Jinchuriki…dead.
Kabuto…dead.
In a fit of rage, he reached down and was about to wring the boy's neck when he sensed three ninjas approach. He paused when he recognized the sources, being that of his own team of ninjas in the exams, Dosu, Zaku and Kin. They must've been attracted by the noise of battle and came to investigate, no doubt to pick off one or even two weakened teams at once. He grinned to himself and stood again. "Come hither, subordinates."
He could sense fear from them, and strong hesitancy. They didn't keep him waiting, though, and they landed in the clearing, kneeling on one knee and averted their gazes to the ground. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru?" Dosu asked with a strain in his tone.
The snake sannin thought to himself briefly before he nodded in finality. "Take Naruto here to the hideout at the inner walls. Here are the directions…"
As he gave them the guidelines on how to get to one of the old ROOT bases that used to be used by Danzo Shimura, he was privy to his thoughts on how he needed a new catalyst to initiate the ruination of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. With the loss of the Ichibi, perhaps he could find the sealing necessary to break the Kyuubi free of its prison and use him instead. Nothing much to it, really. Just a crack here and there, and soon the Biju should smash its way through on its own by his (Orochimaru's) manipulation. The nine-tails should be even more destructive, as it nearly finished off the village all those years ago. And with no one formidable around to seal it again, it should make short work of what was long overdue.
"And tell the Sound Four who are there to watch him."
"And the exams, Lord Orochimaru? Do we finish them with our guise?"
"The exams are trivial. You will use the cover of one of the unguarded gates to escape. You need not worry about the exams any longer. You will simply not participate any longer. Do this deed immediately."
"Hai!" All three chorused. Orochimaru smiled in self-accomplishment before tagging the boy with a seal that was sure to seal his chakra to ensure that he reached his destination as harmless and docile as a newborn lamb. Later, he'd stop by to interrogate him on what he was capable of, but now, he needed to catch up to Sasuke, before it was too late.
With a hastening body-flicker, he was off with the leaves, leaving Team Oto alone.
"Heh heh. Would you look at that?" Zaku snickered as they approached the prone form of the lad. "Powerful my arse. Orochimaru took him down-" He snapped his fingers. "Just like that." He kicked the boy hard in his side, and Naruto groaned in his unconsciousness and flinched involuntarily.
"Hey, quit it!" Dosu ordered. Kin exhaled in relief, as she didn't know how she would have told her own teammate not to kick the Uzumaki. "If Orochimaru wants him alive, we want him in one piece."
"Look at how he flinched. Must've been real tender there." The Abumi stated with a snicker.
"I wouldn't laugh if I were you. Remember how he salt-and-peppered your eyes? Besides, do you think that you could've killed that psycho Gaara? I don't think Orochimaru did that."
"Lucky shot." They both grabbed the Uzumaki under his armpits and heaved him up. "Bastards heavy."
Meanwhile, Kin had been poking around, and inspected the second corpse, the one that didn't have piles of sand around it. As she gazed at the clothing and the lower jaw (all that was left of the head), her eyes caught bits and pieces of glass and metal framing-…it was Kabuto's glasses.
"What…hey! You guys!" Kin hailed, hardly able to suppress the feeling of elation and relief. "It's Kabuto! He's dead."
"What?" Kinuta asked unbelievingly as he stared at the corpse in purplish clothing. "That's Kabuto?
"Damn. He don't have a head no more…" Zaku awed. "Guess this little heavy bastard is dangerous after all."
"Yeah, guess so." Kin replied nonchalantly. She picked up a mug and smelt it-…an acrid aroma that usually followed explosive seals was present in it and she decided to carry it with her to show Dosu back at the hideout. He was smart-…he might even figure out a thing or two about it. Attaching it to her waist on a hook, she began tree-hopping with her teammates and thought to herself.
'He killed Kabuto…I wonder. If things were different, would he have been able to pull off a win against Orochimaru? Something changed, somewhere.'
Her mind then ran on the boy who was in tow just ahead of her between two of her teammates, lugged along like so much dead weight. She prayed for the best, then and there. She didn't say any words, think any words. It was more shapeless, like hoping. But it was a prayer nonetheless.
=X=X=
The final members of team 7 went tearing into the tower at the doorway entrance and slammed the door behind them. There were several Leaf nin there, all chunin and jounin as it was like a lobby, of all things. Or a gauntlet, depending on how you looked at it. All they saw was the last loyal Uchiha and a pinkette who were erratic and couldn't say a word as to how breathless they were.
But that didn't say that they stopped.
They still went on about 'help' and 'Naruto' and 'Snake-man' and 'Orochimaru' and 'Kakashi-sensei' that their teacher had to be called in, as a few chunin like Iruka thought they were going into shock and hyperventilation wasn't helping any. The man took them into a side for privacy before knelt down to their level. "Alright, you two. You made it. Now tell me what happened. By the way, where's Naruto? I didn't expect him to go solo."
"He's in trouble, sensei!" Sakura exclaimed as the panting finally left their system. "This snake guy, Orochimaru-"
"Now, now, hold on." The man's one eyed gaze steeled. "Orochimaru?" He remembered Naruto's recent question over the man, and wondered if they were linked. Was the rogue Sannin in the village, in the exams? In the Forest of Death?"
"Yes! He was after Sasuke-kun but Naruto intervened. He told us to run away and leave him behind while he stalled him."
"You…left him behind?" The man's gaze grew cold. "You abandoned a comrade?"
"Stow the shit, Kakashi." This came from Sasuke, and all present were appalled by the lad's audacity. "We never wanted to do it. He wouldn't have anything less, and he sacrificed himself just to make sure I got here. We came here to get help, so we could get this guy! We didn't come to get a speech. Naruto's last words was to tell us to tell you that Orochimaru was here, and I'll be damned if he doesn't come out of this scrap alive. We came to get help, but if all you're going to do is ask, then we'll ask someone else."
The man looked down, almost as if he was ashamed. He knew he would have done the same thing if he was in Naruto's place, and it was hard to be told off by a genin who previously thought he was better off solo. "I'm going out. You two stay put."
"But we can come and help-"
"No." He cut the Haruno off from her line. "You've done enough. I'll get a jounin or two to come with me." He stood sharply, and turned to leave through the door. He turned the knob and stepped out, and as he looked out, he saw Anko leaning on the adjacent wall.
"I'm coming." Was all she said.
Kakashi sighed, but knew that he wouldn't be able to dissuade the woman not to. "Fine." He turned to Kurenai who stood apart. "Kurenai, tell the Hokage that-"
"I heard," the Yuhi interrupted. "Just go."
Not even ten seconds later, two figures raced from the Tower, heading back in a straight line where the two Team 7 members had come from.
…
…
…
"I know that you have some history, but are you sure that-"
"I said I'm coming, and that's that." Anko said firmly with a growl.
"I know." Kakashi kept his eyes open. "What's the plan, if we find him?"
"When we find him," Anko emphasized. "We're gonna kill him."
They soon came to the spot where the most recent battle had taken place, and it was here that they saw a mess of things; bodies, blood, tile shrapnel, some sand, and a mug along with a four-foot pipe.
No Orochimaru. No Naruto.
"Where the hell's the gaki?" Anko muttered as she picked up the mug. Kakashi saw her do the deed and he raced over to her and batted it out of her hand. "What the hell was that for?"
"I'm actually scared of that thing," the Hatake answered as he recalled using it on Zabuza. "That thing is dangerous."
"What, a mug, Kakashi?" She asked incredulously. "You must be going off the deep end." She approached it picked it up to show him. "See? Empty."
The man sighed. "It must've been fired already. My guess is that he used it on this poor ninja here. No idea on who he was." He gestured to the half-headless body where blood pooled from the cavity. "But that one over there…that's the Ichibi jinchuriki. I know that that the Sabaku was crazy. He'd kill you just for talking about the weather. No friends, no loved him, except for himself."
"Kinda sounds like me," Anko mumbled. "No one cares about me, either. Guess I'm crazy like him too. Only difference is that I don't have a kunai planted in my eye socket."
"You have people who care about you." Kakashi answered.
"Yeah? Like who?"
The Hatake wanted so badly to answer her, but in the end, neglected to. She shrugged her shoulders in response to this. "That's what I thought."
And that particular remark cut him. It made him feel like a coward.
Anko picked up what looked like stray flesh and recognized it as facial skin. "Huh. Looks like he was using one of his demented disguises by using a person's face. Maybe we can ask your brats for a description and what the face was like. But any sign of Naruto? I gotta admit, the brat's growing on me."
"He's not here." Kakashi saw an imprint of where a boy laid, but no longer was. "Me thinks Orochimaru made off with him." His last clue came to be on a tree trunk high up, and Kakashi had to leap up to closer to it so that he could see it he slightly paled when he saw it, and motioned for Anko to take a look at it too. The message was engraved with what must've been a kunai, and the Mitarashi frowned.
'The exams continue, or I'll destroy the Leaf'.
"Damn. He's blunt. But is he bluffing?"
"I don't know. But let's keep searching."
=X=X=
Orochimaru cursed to himself as he reached the hideout at dusk. It had been too late to get to his quarry, as he was now in the guard of leaf ninjas, and no doubt the Hokage himself was present to ask the Haruno and the Uchiha some questions on what they had seen and heard. They might not have gone through enough for anything substantial, but from his perspective, they knew too much. They knew that he was after Sasuke, not to mention that Kabuto was dead and Gaara of the Desert, the would-be instigator of the primary leveling of the Hidden Leaf was dead. For a biju to respawn in five more years in the Suna area and the exams to reach the finals in a month's time, not a chance would that work out.
He had to go with a substitute. Although he had secured the Tsuchikage's support to remove the Leaf from existence, he still needed a biju to truly make the ambition a reality.
He had no worries about not controlling Kyuubi. That was the Hidden Leaf's problem.
He removed the seal that locked the door of the hideout and after several twist and turns, found his way going down a staircase that went deep into the bowels of the village. Once there in the Underground, he made his way to the dungeon area to find the Sound Four and Team Oto standing separately and the Uzumaki in a figurative pile on the ground in one of the cells, propped against the far wall. At a glance, he was bereft of all but clothing; his shoes and weapons and seals were strewn on a table and were being sifted through for anything worth taking, by light of a kerosene lamp. However, all snapped to attention when they saw their master approach.
"Good evening, Lord Orochimaru!"
"At ease. Is he conscious?"
"I'm conscious," the 'pile' mumbled to all. "Now can someone lemme out? I need to go home. I think I left the stove on."
"He hasn't lost his nerve, Orichimaru-sama," the silver-haired one spoke. "I'd be more than glad to cut out his tongue and feed it to him."
"That won't be necessary, Sakon. Unlock his cell."
The red-headed kunoichi quickly obliged him and pulled off a seal off of the key lock. She then inserted a key and turned it to unlock it, and the steel bars slid open. Orochimaru stepped inside with a grim look on his face. He went through a massive amount of handseals before ripping off the boy's shirt.
Kin winced noticeably as she heard Naruto's screams of pain, long and loud they were. It was guttural too, and he'd surely be going hoarse. As she glanced to the others, they were all emotionless and soon, Orochimaru stepped out. The Uzumaki continued to moan in his misery of the after effects, and the cell was promptly locked again.
"Keep watch over him. He's a special case." He cautioned.
"Hai, Lord Orochimaru!" They chorused. He then stepped past to make him leave, but not without mentioning that he'd be back every five days. Kin gulped as she mused about the implications; whatever he was doing on Naruto, he was going to do it on a regular basis.
And so, Day one came to an end.
Day 2
"So no one's seen Naruto? It's safe to say that he's been abducted by Orochimaru-teme himself."
"I'm afraid so, Hokage-sama. What can I say to the rest of the team?"
"Tell them…to remain strong, Kakashi. Tell them to keep him in their prayers."
"And you, Hokage-sama?"
"I shall continue to rally what ninjas I can to search. In the meantime, the exams must continue. Who are the winners of the preliminaries?"
"They are Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata, Shinshoku and Kurotsuchi of Iwa."
"It should have been more."
"There…there was a lot of team killing, Sarutobi-sama."
Day 3
Naruto heaved himself up and stood shakily. "Hey! How many people does it take to guard a single guy, huh? Seven? I'm only thirteen, for Kami's sakes. Almost fourteen, but that's not the case. Can I get something to eat?"
"Shut the fuck up, you shit-spitter bumblefuck!" The red-haired kunoichi shouted as she approached the cell. "Don't you know that you're too fuckin' loud?!"
"You're one to talk. I just want some food. If Orochimaru wants me alive, shouldn't I get some food into me?"
"You want me to shit in your mouth, asslicker?"
"Yikes. No thanks." He held up his hands and waved her down to emphasize his negative answer.
"Tch. So unladylike." Jirōbō muttered.
"You want a piece of me, you cunt-rag fatass?"
"Damn," Naruto looked away. "The language around here is so colorful. How do you deal with that?" He asked aloud. "I just wanted to get something to eat before my gut digests itself."
"Why do we all have to watch him?" Sakon asked privately to Kidomaru. "All seven of us, he's in a cell with no chakra and it's sealed. Is he that powerful, or is Orochimaru-sama that cautious?"
"He killed Kabuto. Don't know how, but we found Kabuto with nothing on his neck except for his lower jaw." Dosu replied. "But he's right. I'll get him some food."
"No metals or plastics," Sakon warned.
"He won't even get the bones, and the damn sandwich is on a sheet of cardboard." He approached the cell and slid the food under the bars. "Here you go."
"Did you spit in this?" Naruto asked. After eyeing the shinobi, he shook his head. "Sorry. Dumb question. You're all bandaged up. But why?"
"…Training burns."
Day 5
Orochimaru had come and gone, but severe pain remained in Naruto's being. He could barely move, but a glance at his stomach where the Sannin had applied his glowing fingers with vividness of seals on the fingertips told him that damage was starting to tell. Something felt busted, and somehow, the seal on his gut didn't look entirely right. It looked a bit…crooked.
Day 6
"This shouldn't have happened, Sakura."
"I know, Sasuke-kun. But I don't think he's dead. If he's dead, Kakashi-sensei would have told us."
"He hasn't exactly told us that he's alive, either." Three kunai sailed through the ear and thudded into a target, spot-on. "He just tells us to pray. We should be acting, not praying!"
"I know. But what can we do?"
"I'm just going to sit in my house and wait for Orochimaru to make his move and come for me. Then-"
"Then what? Let him get his hands on your eyes?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Allow those anbu guards that the Hokage assigned to you do their job."
Day 7
Naruto pushed out the sandwich as soon as Zaku pushed it in. "I'm not hungry."
"Take it."
"No."
"Take it!"
"Hell…no." Naruto said calmly. At this, Abumi grinned and turned to Kidomaru with a triumphant look.
"See? I thought that Kin was joking, but she was right when she told Kabuto when he threatened the info out of her. He can see the future."
"No I didn't," Naruto lied. "Anyone with a nose, or even a brain could tell that you put some of your crap between two slices of bread. I don't want a shitwich. I want a sandwich. At least Dosu knows how to make one. What are you, retarded?"
"You better not let Tayuya find out about this. She'd sack you." Sakon cautioned the dissed ninja. "Besides, we can be a bit more merciful…take out the crap and just give him the bread."
"Didn't I say that I wasn't hungry? Why the hell would I want the bread that was smeared with shit."
"Is he trying to excite sympathy? I don't see any mothers here to coddle him," Kidomaru stated in an easy tone. The rest of the jailors laughed, but Naruto didn't. Kin didn't laugh either…she wasn't present.
Day 8
"You know, I don't think we've been introduced," Naruto exclaimed as best as he could. "You," he pointed at Jirōbō. "You're 'Fatass', 'cause you're so pleasantly plump and you're always eating." He then pointed at the rest in turn, from Kidomaru, Tayuya and Sakon. "You're 'Freak' cause you've got two extra arms. Makes for even more fun on those lonely nights, huh? You girl, you're 'Bitch' because of your charming personality and your cheerful words always brings a smile to everyone's face. And you…" He pointed at Sakon. "You're 'Faggot'. I mean come one, what the hell's the lipstick for? And the behavior…are you flirting with the other guys here? I want you especially, to stay on the other side of the room at all times if you have to be here. Stay where I can see you. 'Fatass', don't eat my food or I'll tell your boss that I'll starve to death before the end of the month. 'Freak', your fine, just keep your freaky hand action to yourself and 'Bitch'…" He smiled broadly. "Make my day!"
And Tayuya began to rant…
Day 9
The Kunoichi of the North Gate continued to rant on and off, and always within earshot. It was getting on everyone's nerves, and Zaku who had overheard it all was still laughing to himself. Naruto shouted to all who could hear him, asking for what day it was since he had no way of telling the spanning of time in his cell, as he slept irregularly and ate at any time his jailors felt like feeding him.
But no one told him the date.
Day 10
Orochimaru strode out of the cell and left, having cracked the boy's seal even more. He only needed a few more, and he'd be primed to release the Kyuubi to raze the village.
After a half hour, Tayuya nonchalantly came up to the cell and dashed a cup of urine onto him, and he sputtered. "Hey! What the hell?!"
"Jirōbō said I should act more than just cuss. I think I like the alternative."
And with that, she stalked away.
Naruto turned to Kidomaru. "Hey, buddy! Mind tossing some water on me? Wash me off?"
The four-armed ninja responded by holding up all four of his hands and flipped Naruto the bird before making his own departure.
"Damn. That's cold."
Day 12
It had been all of a full dozen days since he was taken to this hell hole of a prison. He decided that if it wasn't for Orochimaru's treatments, it wouldn't be all that bad.
Today was a bid different. All of the Sound Four were gone, as well as Team Oto. They were all secure in the knowledge that he could not escape, and they were right. The scruffy boy, smelly, rank, emaciated boy who had his chakra sealed could not escape, and for all his knowledge, for all his essence, he could not escape. He had never honed his skills enough, much less for a situation like this, although he was certain that a ninja above his caliber would still be in the same position…alone and helpless.
He waited.
They were careful. No utensils, no plates. He ate dry foods or sandwiches that were fed to him on cardboard. While there was a working toilet (that stunk to high-hell) there was no way for him to wash himself, and Tayuya's piss didn't improve things. He wouldn't have been able to dodge it when she had thrown it anyways, as he had been too in pain at the time to even flinch out of the way, or room to dodge. It was a small cell, about twice the size of a cubicle. There was only the toilet, no bed. He slept on the ground.
And the cardboard that they gave to him to use as a plate... Kami, he wished they would just give him a roll of tissue to use. Enough said.
He waited.
Every time he touched the bars, he got burnt. Severely. It must have something to do with the seal on it, but he couldn't reach it from the inside. He had more than just a few burns from his attempts that had healed up, but still got infected. That cleared up after a day, but that wasn't the issue.
He waited.
He had started to doze off when he was suddenly awoken by a deluge of water splashing him against his body. As he sputtered and spat, he cleared the water from his eyes to see one of the Kunoichis seated on a small footstool. He, on impulse, began to fear that he had gotten a bucketful of piss this time, but he soon realized that it was Kin and he relaxed.
"Hey."
"You've been avoiding me," he said tersely.
She looked away, before finally answering. It wasn't in response to his accusation, as she found no way to neutralize the barb in it. "You look like you've seen better days."
"I have." He replied. "But hey, if you want to see me be better, how about you let me out so I can stretch my legs?"
"You know that even if I did, Tayuya has the key," she said calmly. "Look. I'm sorry that you ended up here, but it wasn't my fault."
"Are you trying absolve yourself of guilt? I didn't accuse you of anything. Do you know what's going to happen?"
"Other than trying to kill you?" She asked with a hint of mirth on her lips.
"Of course," he responded in a likewise manner.
"I overheard the Sound Four talking about 'cracking a seal'. Any idea on what that's about, Mr. Kyuubi Jinchuriki?"
Naruto's gaze averted from the girl to the ground. "I see. He's going to break the seal. He'll unleash the Kyuubi to destroy the village." He sighed, pondering the mess he was in. None of this would've happened if he had fled instead of staying behind to help his teammates, but nothing was promised in life. He knew that the future wasn't set in stone, and that anything could happen.
But with each day that passed, it became more and more likely that he would die and the village he grew up in would pay for his blunder.
The good of the many outweighed the good of the few, and he told this to Kin. "I should've ran away. But instead, I stayed behind and to help my teammates escape."
They were silent for a while, but Kin was the first to break it. "You chose a different path. You chose a path that you don't know anything about."
"Yes."
"Well…" She sounded as if she was choking back a small sob, and Naruto looked up to regard her. "Now you know how it feels to live like me. Not knowing which day's your last, your future is uncertain and nothing is granted."
"I know that I can escape. I just need you to open the cage, and I could take everyone down in the blink of an eye."
"Who says I'm on your side?" Kin asked calmly as she began to stand again.
"Aren't you?"
"…"
"…"
"I don't know."
Day 13
"Well, have you heard? We've got our orders. We're going to go beat up the Uchiha tomorrow night. It should be interesting."
"Whatever." The Sound Four retreated to one of the back rooms, and Dosu saw it as his chance to speak to the blond alone, seeing as Zaku was napping in his own room, and Kin was nowhere about.
"So…Naruto. It's just us. Can you see the future? If you tell me, I'll make living here more comfortable for you. You know that I'm the one who's basically feeding you."
"Yeah. I know." Naruto nodded. "I got my questions about that, though. You don't know me."
"I know what's like to starve." Dosu deadpanned.
"Geez. That's dark. Fine. I'll tell you. But tell me about Kin first. And then I'll tell you if I really can or not. No beating about the bush."
Dosu looked thoughtful, as if he was trying to figure the blond out. "If you could see the future, you would know what the answer is."
"If I could foresee the future, maybe I would have known that you wouldn't tell me," The Uzumaki said simply. To which Dosu nodded while he closed his visible eye.
"She's the youngest of all of us by a couple months. From what I know, she's been orphaned…"
…
…
…
"You told me what I knew already," Naruto said at last. "But at least now I know why she is the way that she is."
"What's your answer?" Dosu asked. "Can you or can't you?"
"I can see the future. In exactly two minutes, Zaku will come in hollering for you to ask you where you left his ninja gear. You responded and told him that you cleaned it and left it in your room by accident."
"Well, let's count those two minutes, shall we?
…
…
…
He was not disappointed.
Day 14
Night had fallen, and Naruto was alone in the room, but it wasn't for long, as Kin had found herself in front of him. "Hey. I brought you a roll of toilet paper. I've been overhearing you complain about the cardboard, so I figured-"
"You think that they're going to judge you for these small acts of kindness, Kin?"
"Yes." She answered straightaway. "I don't want to look like a sell out."
"You sold me out to Kabuto. But I didn't care. I knew that you were in a rough spot, and I tried to look past it."
The kunoichi looked uncomfortable, but the blond pressed on. "I'm going to die soon, Kin, and you know it. How's that going to rest on your conscience?"
"Don't try to ride on my emotions," she mumbled bitterly. "You're the same one who used to threaten me."
"I was bluffing. In fact, I did that because I was meant to in my visions. I'm sorry." The apology was sincere, and Kin could sense it. But he continued regardless. "I was afraid that if I didn't, you would come to find courage in yourself to fight me, and that I might lose. I only know what to do if I go along with a plan. If I hadn't, then you would have tried to fight me, and I wouldn't have known what to do. I can still hold my own, but too many risks would have come into play." He propped himself up to lean against the wall. He turned to gaze on her, and instead of the strong frenemy she had come to know, she now saw an emaciated boy who wasted away in his cell, close to giving up. "I heard that they were going after my teammate, Sasuke tonight. If they succeed, it'll mean that all I did to sacrifice myself to ensure his safety would have been for nought."
"He'll be branded with the Curse Seal. Orochimaru will probably do it tonight after he's beaten by the Sound Four."
"Kin…"
"Yeah?" She answered plainly, awaiting his say.
"Will you forgive me though? For being a prick, that is?"
"Yeah. That's fine, 'cause I realized that they were bluffs anyway." She allowed a smile to creep onto her face. "But you were scary though, I'll give you that."
"I know. I'm still as strong as you know, maybe even stronger. If I had even one kunai, and everyone was in the same room, I'm telling you, I could kill everyone in the blink of an eye. You wouldn't need to stick around with 'em anymore."
"Tempting. But I have to ask. What's the deal with you and those three auras I've seen you emit? I've seen you do a white one, a black one and grey one." She asked curiously. "I first saw it when you dragged me off into that place where you said 'only time exists' and then during the course of the exams."
Naruto started up in a shock. "You saw it?"
"Mmm hmm."
The boy's mind raced when he thought of this. Was this some kind of ability bestowed on her for being in the zone like he did? To see and know whenever he was manipulating time? "That's when I'm…controlling time."
"Can you tell me more about it?" She asked eagerly.
"My tongue might become more loose if you unlock the cage."
She wagged a finger and smiled. "Nuh uh. Nice try, though. Anyway, take care. Orochimaru's coming tomorrow."
"No honorifics?" The boy boggled.
"I never did like him. But I work for him, I keep my life. Simple."
"You're afraid to leave his employ," Naruto realized. "And between him and Kabuto and me, you were in a real jam."
"One point for the smart guy," she said sullenly. "I have to go."
Day 15
"GAAAAAAHHHHH!" His deteriorating body was released from the Sannin's grasp unto the cold and damp floor, his bones jarred from the impact. Orochimaru smirked as he realized that the weakened boy would soon give up the Kyuubi from his seal…and the ghost from his body. He left the cell and clanged it shut, sealing the boy again inside.
"Well, well, Naruto. Sasuke-kun has been branded. How does it feel to know that all your efforts in the Forest of Death have gone to waste?"
The blond did not answer, but he knew what it felt like. His promise was as broken as his body, and his scruffiness was like the integrity of his words. That is, none to speak of. Even if and when he escaped, how could he face the rest of Team 7 again?
And then the man was gone.
Naruto sighed as he looked about the room, his eyes searching for anyone who was there. His eyes landed on Dosu and Kin who tried to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible. "Hey. What day is it?" He hailed weakly.
"It's…the tenth of October," Dosu said with difficulty, knowing that he wasn't supposed to tell their prisoner nothing of time and date. At hearing this, Naruto broke down and actually sounded like he was crying. The two Oto ninjas came forward closer to investigate, and their suspicions were right. He was, indeed, crying.
Then he began to hum. To their hearing, they had no idea what it was, and Dosu asked what was wrong.
"It's…it's my birthday today."
Kin whispered to Dosu, telling him that she was going out. That she did, and Naruto stared after her retreating form, wondering if she was cutting ties to him in his addling mind.
…
…
…
It was night when Kin arrived at the hideout once more and quickly and stealthily made her way to the cell that held her friend. Looking around to see if anyone was about, she saw none, and went forward with what she had had in mind. She placed the bowl on the ground and pushed it forward under the lowermost bars of the cell in front of the sleeping boy and hissed to him.
"Hey. Naruto…wake up!"
He jolted out of his sleep almost immediately, and looked around. "Huh? What's going on?"
"It's Kin," she introduced herself. "I got you something."
His eyes fell unto a rectangular and bento-like bowl and his eyes widened as he smelt the aroma that wafted from it. "Is that ramen?"
"Yeah." Kin smiled as he immediately began fussing over it hungrily. "Happy birthday, Naruto."
He looked up from his ministrations with chopsticks halfway, and the kunoichi actually began to sing softly:
"~Ureshii na kyou wa.
Tanoshii na kyou wa.
Tanjoubi omedetou~."
(~Today is a happy day.
Today is a pleasant day.
Happy birthday to you~.)
It was the traditional song, and she sang through it twice more. There was nothing spectacular about it, but it did carry a rustic and quaint charm to it, of all things. He ate while she sang, and he was done at the same time she was.
"Well…it's happier now. Thanks, Kin-chan."
This chapter was mostly dialogue and character development, and I spent the whole night on it. I started around eight pm and it's now 4:30 am. Good night/morning y'all. Later. All of six thousand and fifty words.
Happy anniversary.
MRAY 4TW.