Chapter Twenty-Nine: All We Know
~x~
Yugito was in trouble.
She hadn't meant to do it; like all the worst things, it had been an accident. But someone had bumped into her when she'd been walking away with her breakfast, and suddenly she was wearing her food instead of eating it. The meek kunoichi who'd done the bumping uttered a soft apology, but it had been too late. Yugito's (or rather, Matatabi's) temper had flared, and in the time it took for the girl's eyes to widen, her right sleeve was turning red. Matatabi had scratched her arm; the cuts weren't that deep, but the flow of blood was instantaneous.
The girl shrieked; in the mostly quiet dining hall, her screams silenced both the male and the female sections. People were staring at them; Yugito was breathing heavily, trying to control Matatabi. What influence the demon cat had over the Cloud-nin had gone from minimal to extreme literally overnight. She could feel the bones shifting around in her face; they were changing to become more catlike. It wasn't painful, not exactly, but her cover would be blown if she didn't get a hold of herself. The bowl Yugito had been holding had shattered; bits of gruel and maggots were everywhere.
Fuu was running over, but not quickly enough. Guards were on Yugito in seconds. Though she made no more attempts to hurt the now-sobbing girl in front of her (part of her felt bad about that, but mostly she was concentrating on not letting Matatabi kill her), she coped a nightstick to the stomach.
"Oof!" She doubled over, feeling the bones in her face slide back into place. She only hoped she looked semi-normal. "I'm…sorry," she wheezed at the crying girl, who was cradling her arm like she'd been shot, "Reflexes…sorry."
The girl didn't reply. "Brawling is not tolerated here," a hefty woman snarled at Yugito. Her jaw was square and her hair was pulled back into a severe bun. Her piggish eyes looked Yugito over with disgust. "I trust you know that?"
"My arm hurts," the girl wailed, and one of the other guards, her hair also in a bun, patted her arm awkwardly. It was one of the twins.
"Take Yumi to the infirmary," the first guard said, her jaw set. Even if I was in my full form, I couldn't push her over, Matatabi said snidely, and Yugito fought to keep her face straight. Laughing at Matatabi's jokes wouldn't look good for her right now. "I'll process this one and have her appropriately punished." She made to hit Yugito with the nightstick again, and both Yugito and Fuu flinched.
"Fuka," Tani said suddenly. She sounded, and looked, very tired. "Can we give it a rest? I don't really want to do any paperwork. Neither do you, right?"
"What?" Fuka snarled. Tani looked back at her unwaveringly.
"I'll take Yumi to the infirmary, no problem. But I don't really feel like doing paperwork, do you?"
Fuka, and Fuu and Yugito, for that matter, were clearly shocked. "If we only write up Yumi's injuries, there'll be inquiries," she said, as if Tani were slow and stupid, "You know that."
Tani shrugged. "So we don't write up Yumi," she said matter-of-factly. "She got scratched; she's not close to dying. I doubt Captain Obito or the warden will care. In fact, I think they'd be more pissed at how you've blown this totally out of proportion." She really didn't look very well, Yugito noted, and didn't much care.
Fuka sighed. "What are you saying, Tani? That we should leave it alone?"
"Well, yeah." Tani shrugged. "Have you seen what Warden Shimura and Captain Uchiha are like these days? I really would bother them with this." She stared at Fuka unwaveringly. Was that a lowkey THREAT in her voice? Yugito was absolutely floored. So was Fuu, if her gaping mouth was any indication.
"Fine," Fuka growled. She jabbed Yugito in the chest. "If I hear about you breaking any rules in here again…you're out. And I mean it, too." She shot Tani a dirty look. "Take Yumi to the infirmary now, please." And she pissed off, arms stiff by her side. Tani nodded to the jinchuriki, and took hold of Yumi's arm and also left.
Fuu and Yugito could only stare at each other. 'What was that?' Fuu mouthed, and Yugito shrugged. God only knew why the guards were helping them.
Not that she was complaining, of course. They needed all the help they could get.
XxX
The world was dark. He could see little, and feel even less. He might have been floating; just below him, the dark cloud loomed. He wished he were dead; but medication and immaculate care from one of Konoha's finest kept him alive. Not only that, he was mending.
He was too drugged up to know how well he was mending, true, but he knew it as surely as what had happened to him. Zabuza had nearly died, and he was coming back from that. But for all intents and purposes, presently he was little more than a cripple. If someone decided to come and overturn his bed (with him in it), he could do nothing about it. He seriously doubted his ability to crawl away, either. While he was mending, he wasn't mending THAT fast.
The one sense that the medication hadn't managed to take away from him was his hearing- he could hear perfectly fine, and so actually had a pretty clear idea of what was happening around him. He heard Rin and Obito conversing, the occasional whimper or scream, and he heard it when two females came into the infirmary.
He also heard it when Haku came in.
He had no idea who it was until they put their hand on his chest and said, "Mr Zabuza? It's me, Haku. I guess you're healing up okay, if they're letting me in to see you now." It irked Zabuza somewhat that they hadn't let Haku in before. Did I really look that bad? He wondered, and then promptly decided he didn't want to know the answer to that question. Haku paused, as if he was waiting for a reply. When he didn't get one (of course), he said, "Something's happening, Zabuza. Something big. All the jinchuriki are acting weird. The Akatsuki's acting weird. Even the guards are acting weird. I- I think there's going to be an uprising."
If Zabuza could reply, he would have said, "Don't be foolish, boy. Ain't nobody that fucking stupid." As it was, Haku seemed to know what he was thinking.
"It's true, Mr Zabuza," he whispered, and pressed his hand tighter on Zabuza's chest. He felt something thaw inside of him. "People are acting so weird. The Akatsuki have quit talking to me. Suigetsu and the others have quit talking to me. People are scared. I'm scared, Mr Zabuza."
It killed him to hear his kid say this. Not that Haku was his kid, of course- Zabuza wasn't a father as far as he knew- but he considered the orphan to be his son. Everything Zabuza did, from the stealing to the threatening to the killing- it was to secure a safe place for Haku. To allow him to become a strong ninja. That had gone down the shitter with their arrest, of course, but he did what he could. Even if that meant bullying fresh fish so they knew not to start trouble.
Nobody knew that, of course. Not even Haku, and he was probably one of the people Zabuza was close to.
Except…was that really true? No, it wasn't. Yagura also knew- or he had, before he'd gone batshit insane and put Zabuza in a kind of living hell. Even though he was younger than Zabuza by quite a bit, and didn't look particularly threatening- even with the gigantic scar across his face- Yagura didn't miss anything. If it concerned him or his village, he was onto it. In many aspects he was a far greater ninja than Zabuza would ever be.
Yagura would never beat up fat kids, anyway. It astounded Zabuza, but he actually felt the first inklings of guilt over the pain and misery he had caused Choji Akimichi. In fact, he felt himself wanting to take it all back. And maybe I will, he thought, still in a stupid daze, not as turning a new leaf, or anythin'. But I guess it's only fair. I took his soul, and I got mine taken away. Except Choji still has use of his limbs. I…I should apologise at the very least.
He sighed quietly. Haku became very still. "Mr Zabuza?" he asked quietly. "Are you listening to me?"
He was, but he couldn't say so. After a few moments, Haku sighed himself. "I've got to go, Mr Zabuza. Obito and Rin are coming back. I hope you get better soon."
He left, and he took a piece of Zabuza's heart with him. As the dying ninja lay there, unable to move or speak, a single tear ran down his cheek.
XxX
When do I get to kill someone? Kurama asked. Naruto rolled his eyes. It hadn't been the first time Kurama had asked this, and it probably wouldn't be the last. Every day Naruto went without his medication, he could feel the demon fox's power growing. It was like that movie with the Alien in it, where the creature burst from that guy's chest. Naruto thought that Kurama would do that- maybe actually literally. He hoped not- jinchuriki or not, that was a pretty final way to die.
"Not yet," Naruto muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "now quit nagging me." He tried to be discreet, but of course, the whole table heard him.
"What's Kurama got to say this time?" Kakashi asked dryly, and the whole group looked at Naruto expectantly. The change was becoming stronger by the second; Utakata could barely pass for human, Gaara was looking more like the tanuki every day, and Han couldn't even use his hands anymore. Roshi didn't look any different outwardly, except that his ears might have become flatter- but Naruto had heard that Roshi and Son Goku had the same hair colour and type. As an older ninja hardened by years out in the rough, his hair was coarse and almost pelt-like. Even Bee was looking like his tailed demon. Everyone except Naruto seemed to have gone some kind of change.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Nothing new, just the usual crap," he said, and Kurama squawked indignantly. "He's excited." He tried not to let the disappointment show. Truthfully he had had no changes at all yet- wait, that wasn't quite true. His nails were sharper. Big fucking help that's going to be, he thought scathingly, not against guns, anyway. I can scratch my way out or somethin'.
I'm doing my best, Kurama protested. The medicine…it's like chains, wrapped around me! He snarled in frustration.
Han laughed at him gently. "Think of it this way," he said, "at least you don't have to have others feed you." He held up his own hooves. There really was no other way of describing it- they were HOOVES. Naruto flicked his eyes downwards and saw that the ninja's feet were going the same way- Han had foregone the shoes today and just gone with footwraps.
"Yeah, how are you guys getting away with that, by the way?" Naruto asked. He scratched his ear absently. He didn't realise it for some time, but the nail came away with skin and blood underneath it. Looks like he'd have to be more careful from now on. Kurama gave him the demon equivalent of flipping him off, smirking.
Sasuke was absorbing all of this silently. He hadn't spoken much since he'd approached Naruto- in fact, he hadn't spoken at all. He seemed to have withdrawn into himself. Sometimes he drew out a photograph and stared at it intently. When asked about it, he'd just put it back and pretend like he'd never been asked. Naruto had heard that his screams had died down, too- for which everyone was profoundly grateful. There wasn't anything as chilling as hearing someone scream. Sasuke seemed like he was on the verge of deciding something, of what, Naruto had no idea.
Utakata seemed to take offense at the question. He sniffed loudly and glared fixedly at the ceiling. As he did so, a great wad of slime dripped from his right ear and splattered on the table. He scowled. Han, as usual, didn't mind being asked. "I just shove my hands in my pockets," he said cheerily, accepting the spoonful of gruel Iruka offered him, "and I go about my business, as per usual. I imagine Gaara does the same, but poor Utakata over there is going to have some trouble. If he hasn't already."
"What do you mean by that?" Utakata asked furiously. Roshi tittered uneasily. Han seemed unnerved.
"Well, dear boy, you're covered in slime and white as a sheet. Surely you've noticed?"
"I have noticed!" Utakata shot up from his chair, realised he was making a scene, and sat back down with a plop!. Trying to maintain his snooty air, he said, "It seems like some of us got the short end of the stick here. You at least look normal." Kankuro came back from his pee break (or so he said- they all knew he'd been approached to 'take care of some business'), and sat down next to Gaara, Roshi moving silently to let him do so. He lit a cigarette.
"What's goin' on here?" he asked, cigarette waggling as he talked, "Slug-boy talking shit again?"
"Excuse you-" Utakata began furiously, but Gaara intervened, holding his hands up in a pacifying gesture. His hands were crisscrossed in blue veins, and he had talons as well.
"Enough," he said softly. Christ, even his teeth were sharper. "That's enough, from all of you. Did you all forget what we came here to do? Escape. And we can't do that unless we work together as a team." His eyes narrowed. "Kankuro, I expected better from you. And will you put that cigarette out already?"
"I just lit it," Kankuro protested, but after a hard stare from his brother (whose eyes were decidedly spookier and nastier-looking), he stubbed it out on the table. "I dunno what I walked in on, but you-all look like ya ready to crush some skulls." He snuck a sideways glance at Roshi. "I'd give yas a couple days before ya get caught, if that. Slug-boy-" he backpedalled quickly at Gaara's glare "-Utakata, mate, ya not lookin' so human, if ya catch my drift. Neither are you, Gaara," he said hastily. "How long do ya reckon it'll take until the beasts take over?"
"Not long now," Gaara said quietly. He clasped his hands in front of him, schoolboy-style. They all tried to ignore the blue veins. "Not long at all. I can hear Shukaku grow louder with every second I go without my medicine."
"On that note," Utakata butted in, "have you noticed the guards have been noticeably…slacker…regarding our treatments? Usually they've been on point. Now it seems like they don't give a damn."
Sasuke squirmed in his seat slightly, and Naruto did a double-take. Did his quiet, withdrawn friend know anything about this? If he did, he wasn't going to talk. Naruto instead changed the subject. "Hey, is that Choji over there?"
They all looked. It was indeed Choji, standing rather than sitting, and Naruto marvelled at how much thinner he looked. He had been a chubby kid, maybe fat- but now he had bypassed 'healthy' and gone right to what looked like 'emaciated'. It was a startling sight, and not one that Naruto liked much. Despite his appearance, Choji ate greedily, spilling some of the food on his clothes as he did so. His hair appeared to be thinner, too, and he practically swam in his clothing.
He looked…well, he looked like Hidan. Except Choji had brown hair. Hidan was just as, if not more, emaciated, except the reasons for their emaciation were very different. With Hidan it had come with a long stretch here, months, if not years at Blood Prison- with Choji it was sheer stress of having Hidan as a cellmate. The torture that kid must go through every night, Kurama noted sadly, if he's slept at all, I'll eat my tails.
It was true- Choji looked like shit. And dangerously close to doing something stupid. Naruto had seen that look before- it was the same kind of look mangy dogs had- kind of pathetic, yet not altogether gone. Choji looked like he had been kicked in the guts one too many times- he was a wreck. "I need to go talk to him," Naruto said impulsively, standing up- he was surprised when Shino and Kiba came with him.
"We were there before you were," Kiba said defensively, "we've been Choji's friends from the start. We're coming with you, Naruto."
Surprising them all, Gaara also stood up. "I also want to come."
"Are you insane?" Kankuro protested, "You'll scare the shit out of him, looking like that!"
Gaara stared at him levelly. "He's hurting," he said quietly, "If there's anything I can do to ease his pain, I want to try." Kankuro couldn't fault such logic, so he let his brother go, resigned. Sasuke tagged along as well, looking listless. Wherever Naruto went, Sasuke followed. It really was like having a small kid following you around, Naruto thought, and banished the misgivings when he approached Choji.
"Hey, it's my main man Choji!" Naruto greeted him. Choji looked up from his gruel. He didn't seem to recognise them at first, but when he saw Sasuke, he tried to flee.
"Get him away from me!" he flung, dropping his bowl- in the noise, the sound went unnoticed, "I know what he did to Zaku! I don't want to die!"
"He's not going to hurt you," Naruto said patiently. He put a hand on Choji's bony shoulder. "I'll make sure of it. Choji…how are you?"
Choji stared out at him from a dead face. "How do you think I'm doing, Naruto?" he asked quietly. "I'm a sitting duck. Hidan tortures me every night. I can't sleep. Zabuza might have been put in the infirmary, but I know he'll come back for me. I know he will." Such pessimism actually scared Naruto. Whilst Sasuke was a deeply disturbed person, he at least had some semblance of sanity left. Looking at Choji, Naruto thought that his friend might have actually gone insane. Luckily for him, Kiba jumped in.
"Choji, my man!" he said cheerily, ringing false to nearly everyone, "it's been awhile! Shino and I have missed ya!"
"Have you?" Choji asked coldly. That stopped Kiba in his tracks. The grin faded from his face, and if he'd had ears, they would have drooped. "Then why haven't you come to talk to me before?"
"Quit being an asshole," Naruto said uneasily, "We've been busy, Choji, and actually, if you let us speak-"
"We're going to break out of prison," Gaara said clearly, and Choji stared at him, mouth hanging open.
"For real?"
"For real," Gaara replied, a smile in his voice. "And soon, too. We came to let you know. You won't need to worry about Hidan ever again."
I'll gladly slice his head from his neck, Kurama hissed, he seems like a real jerk. Naruto smiled a little at the demon's comment.
"We've sorry we've been away for a long time," Kiba said quietly. His usual energy was now gone. His voice was sombre. He smiled. "But we've been working on somethin', and we wanna make sure you're okay."
"Do I look okay to you?" Choji asked, but with less malice this time. He seemed less pessimistic and more…was that a shred of hope in his voice? It made Naruto's heart leap pleasantly. He looked down at where his belly used to be. "So it's soon?"
"Sooner than you think," Naruto said. He held his hands out. "Take a look." Choji had a look at Naruto's hands, which were, aside from the longer nails, pretty normal-looking.
"Is that what I think it is?" Choji asked. They all nodded. "Then there is hope after all," he said softly.
XxX
In the perpetual darkness, Yagura sensed there was something very wrong with his body. First he had felt cold, solitary confinement not having the luxury of heaters or any sort of warmth. He'd known that, and expected it- that's what he got for letting Isobu loose, after all.
But after awhile, Yagura began to feel hot. Not just warm; blisteringly hot. Like, sweat-dripping-down-your-forehead-hot. And he was getting angrier, too. He wasn't sure how to describe it- it was like he was living in a perpetual state of annoyance. Initially he had chalked it up to sharing a cell with Pain from the Akatsuki, but now that the skeletal man had fallen silent, apparently lost in his own thoughts, Yagura didn't have a reason why he felt so angry.
He actually felt like ripping the chains from his body and murdering every lousy guard that was above ground. He actually gnashed his teeth once or twice. Whoa, watch it there, he told himself when he caught himself doing that, I know you're frustrated, but there's no need for this rubbish. You didn't behave this way as Mizukage, you have no reason to start now.
That was all very well and good, except…except he wasn't alone with his thoughts. Isobu was with him, and boy, was the turtle pissed.
Actually, you do, Isobu said, twisting uneasily in the chakra-chains inside him, you're being handled like…an animal. Like a murderer. Is that any way to treat the former Mizukage? You did so much good for Hidden Mist- you became Kage at fifteen, made Zabuza an excellent ninja, and trained Utakata to work with his own tailed-beast. You're not even close to being as bad as Pain, and you know it.
Well, yes, but…Yagura had messed up. He'd forgotten his medication, and train though he might have with Isobu, extensively, the slipup that he'd had was inexcusable. He'd nearly killed someone because of his negligence!
And…it had been Zabuza. Yagura hadn't much cared for the piss-poor attitude the man had adopted in Blood Prison, picking on fresh fish and all, but that didn't excuse his nearly killing him. Zabuza was many things, but above all he was a determined ninja who merely tried to do the best for his protégé, Haku. Yagura felt ashamed of his momentary lapse that had led to such destruction.
Don't feel ashamed, Isobu said now, waddling closer and closer to Yagura's subconscious, We all make mistakes. And you didn't kill him, so quit moping around. Besides…I can sense something. Something big. More jinchuriki are about to break free.
"No way," Yagura said hoarsely, before he could stop himself. Pain twisted in his chains slightly, obviously listening. Yagura ignored the other man and said, "is that what I can sense?"
Yes, said Isobu.
"Indeed," said Pain. Yagura heard the smirk in the other man's voice. "My Angel informs me that we shall be out sooner than you think, Mizukage. I will so enjoy the feel of sunlight on my skin again."
"If we escape this place, I'm putting a bounty on you," Yagura said furiously, "Just so you know."
"I'd expect nothing less," came the reply, "but what makes you think that you'll be able to catch me?"
Yagura didn't have an answer for that.
XxX
Later that day, Obito was searching for the warden. That asshole Katsuro still hadn't shown up for any of his shifts, and there was going to be hell to pay. That, and Obito had had a shit of a day. Rin had seen Zabuza crying in the infirmary, and despite him trying, he just couldn't comfort her today. He had a feeling that Rin would be harder to comfort these days, as more and more people came into her infirmary, with fewer and fewer walking out. That incident with Nori Hayashi had rattled her.
Obito knocked on the warden's door smartly. "Warden Shimura? It's Captain Uchiha. You got a minute?"
Evidently not, if the maddening silence was any indication. He knocked again, more impatiently this time, hurting his knuckles in the process. Eventually the door was opened by a pale kid with black hair. "The warden is out," this kid informed Obito, with all the life of a recording. Even his eyes were dull and lifeless, and it occurred to Obito that whoever this kid was, he was under a jutsu. So Hayashi wasn't lying, Obito realised, his body growing cold, Danzo is actually capable of fully-fledged chakra use. That is…incredibly dangerous. "May I take a message?"
"You sure he's not in there?" Obito pressed. The kid, Sai (he wore a nametag that said so), shook his head.
"I'm sorry, sir. If you come back later, he should be here. Shin and I are tending the office for him."
"What?" That had never happened before. Obito tried to force his way in, and suddenly there were two people blocking his way. "Hey, let me in!"
"Sorry, sorry," they chorused, "we cannot allow anybody in while the warden is away. Unfortunately, that also includes you, Captain Uchiha."
"I- damn it!" Obito was furious. He stopped struggling for a moment, gritting his teeth. "What the hell is in there that I can't see?!"
"There's some people-" Sai said, and Shin elbowed him in the ribs.
"We cannot say, sir," Shin said apologetically. "We apologise. We'll inform Warden Shimura that you stopped by. Please leave now."
And for the first time in this career, Obito Uchiha was forced to turn around and walk the other way. He did so silently, but his mind was reeling.
What the hell did that kid mean, 'there are people in there'?
He began to suspect the warden. He began having some very dark thoughts indeed.
XxX
THAT NIGHT
"So you're part of the ANBU, right?"
They were in Konohagakure, and they were laying together. Hands met, interlocked. She had her leg over his. They were facing each other, noses nearly touching. He regarded her like he worshipped her, and she him. He squeezed her hand tighter.
"That's right," he said, touching the tip of her nose with his free hand, "I help the Hokage protect this village. I live to protect the Hokage, and everyone else in the village." He smiled. "And that includes you."
She looked at him, wide-eyed. "You really think I'll be able to come live here?"
He laughed. "I don't see why not." He hugged her then, and she clung to him like a leech. He smelled like musk and bark and…smoke. Not cigarette smoke; like he had been practicing his fire jutsu recently.
They sat up then, and Shisui kissed her quickly. "I'm glad you decided to try the Chunin exams," he said tenderly, "You're the light in a time of absolute darkness, Tani."
"What do you mean by that?" She was, quite frankly, alarmed. "is there…is there trouble in your family?"
He waved her concern away. "Nothing you need to worry about," he said, but she could tell he was lying- she saw it in his eyes. He squeezed her tighter. "I'm glad I met you, Tani Hayashi."
She smiled. "Same for you, Shisui Uchiha," she said. They leant in to kiss again, when a shadow fell over them.
"How come he gets all the fun, yeah?" Deidara said.
Tani awoke from this dream drenched in sweat and utterly confused. She ran a hand through her rat's nest of hair, and exhaled noisily. She felt…robbed. She'd been reliving a moment she'd had with her darling Shisui, not so long ago. She hadn't known back then, but in the dream, she did believe that he had been planning to ask her to marry him. Why else would he have asked her to live with him?
But…where did Deidara come into it? It was utterly baffling. She wasn't in the least attracted to him- or was she? She didn't know, and it frustrated the hell out of her; she felt both angry and sad. She touched her cheek, and her finger came away wet; she'd been crying in her sleep.
What I've gone through, she thought angrily, throwing her sheets aside and standing up, intending to go to the bathroom, I try my best, and it still haunts me.
She made it to the bathroom, nightgown clinging to her hips and thighs. She washed her face, enjoying the cold water on her burning skin, and she stifled a sob.
She wanted to be out of this place so she could grieve properly.
"Heya, sweetcheeks," a voice said, and she screamed then.
XxX
THE NEXT MORNING
Naruto knew something was wrong the moment Kakashi prodded him awake. "Naruto? Are you okay?"
"I- whaa-" Naruto managed before his words were overridden by a kind of yowl. It reverberated throughout the cell, and when he clapped his hands to his mouth, he nearly cut his face open.
He had fox claws. He opened his mouth to say something, probably ask what the hell was going on, but the only sound that came out was another foxlike scream.
He couldn't talk.
Kurama had stolen his voice.
A/N: Hey everyone! Here's another chapter! Hope you all like it c: I hope to delve more into some of the character's backstories in the spin-off series 'Hozuki Gaiden', that I will be releasing sometime next month. I also completely forgot about Zabuza (eek!), and I wondered how he'd be going along…badly, it turns out XD. I hope you all like this chapter, and aside from maybe one more, this fic is nearly over! C:
Please let me know how you think I'm going, because this is my first big MAJOR fanfiction that I've even come close to finishing. Any reviews are much appreciated c:
Also please check my profile for what some of the characters look like! I've commissioned artwork of them and it is AMAZING! Have a lovely day, and have a Merry Christmas should the next chapter not be out before then! C:
