Chapter/Episode 29
Infiltrating Orochimaru's hideout!
Kyoko kept running and kept getting further and further away from Midori village. She swore she wouldn't return without Victorique at her side. She would definitely bring her back, or die trying.
Suddenly Kyoko stopped running for a bit and just stood there. "What the heck am I doing," she thought to herself. "I don't even know what I'm doing. I mean, come on, did I just expect to run into them?"
She held her index and middle finger to her face as she concentrated. Steadying her breathing to a rhythmic pace, she used the one jutsu that she seemed to never have forgotten. It was the jutsu that allowed her to 'see' anything far away by following the wind and having images appear in her mind. She told Kakashi and Jiraya about still knowing how to perform the jutsu and they had told her that her incredibly strong connection with nature allowed her to naturally relearn it easily.
She concentrated and followed along the wind, allowing it to carry her mind wherever it wanted to, hoping to find any hint of anything concerning Victorique or Orochimaru. Suddenly the wind altered. It made a weird whooshing sound as if blowing by something hollow, something like a hole.
"Maybe it's a door," she wondered. "A secret entrance for going underground maybe…"
He went further west from where she was standing and headed to where the wind had become irregular. She came to a small, weird-looking hill that was by a great big oak tree. Rounding the hill until she was in front of the tree, Kyoko saw with pleasure that it was in fact a secret door leading underground. It was covered with moss and other types of greenery to obscure it from view; however Kyoko knew it was there.
After moving the shrubs and things Kyoko stopped and stared at the old, wooden door. She knew she couldn't just charge in there and run around like a chicken with its head cut off. She was smarter than that, and Sasuke, despite being a harsh jerk, had taught her better than that.
She had already hidden her chakra and disguised her scent and she was hoping that whoever was waiting for her hadn't sensed her yet. Slowly pushing the door open, she formulated a plan in her head. Everyone that had talked to her about Orochimaru mentioned his association with snakes. So her plan was this; she would sneak in there, transforming herself as a snake and then with the limited amount of time she had with her depleting chakra, she would find and rescue Victorique.
Kyoko knew it wasn't going to be as easy as it sounded but she knew she had to try. The brunette, pony-tailed kunoichi shakily climbed down the stairs and found herself in a very long hallway with torches on either side, lighting it up.
"Alright," Kyoko thought, continuing with her plan. "Now I need to transform into a snake."
Kyoko had been told by Kakashi and other ninja that her transformation skills were spectacular, none like they had ever seen before. Not only could she transform convincingly into just about anything, but she could hide her chakra pretty effectively too.
She readied her hand signs and transformed into a small red and black patterned snake, one just small enough to fit into the venting system that ran through all the corridors of the underground tunnels. As she slithered into the venting system and hurried along it she stayed very quiet, listening for any sounds of life.
As she decided to turn left, then right, then left again, she heard strange voices up ahead. Following them, she stopped at one of the grates and found the room the two people were occupying. The sound of keys was heard as one of the two people dropped a ring of keys on the desk.
"They should be coming soon, Lord Orochimaru," a grey-snake like person spoke. "Or more importantly, she should be coming soon."
"Yesss," the raspy voice of Orochimaru spoke. "I know Kabuto. I await their arrival with baited breath. With that little girl in our hands I will be able to obtain every technique with the touch of a hand, even every kekkei genkai. That girl's, Kyoko's, body will be mine."
He laughed menacingly when Kabuto spoke. "But Lord Orochimaru," he interrupted. "I have reason to believe that she won't be alone. Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha will be with her as well. Not to mention Naruto, Kakashi and probably some others too."
Orochimaru just smirked. "I know," he rasped. "We must prepare for their arrival. I will get the girl. Come, we must go prepare Kabuto."
"Right," Kabuto agreed. "I'm coming. Let's go."
Kyoko waited and watched as they left the room. "Now's my chance," she thought. "I have to grab those keys before they get back."
The vent was about three quarters of the way up the wall and if she stuck her tail out and lowered herself from the vent, she could just reach the keys. Slowly, she lowered her tail and when she was just in reach of them she hooked her tail and picked them up. She slid the keys through the vent, the keys just fitting, and then slithered away with them. She kept the very end of her tail in a hook, holding them over her body, as to not make any noise dragging them along the vent.
"Now where," she wondered, feeling her chakra drain. "I just need to locate Victorique and get the heck outta here, fast."
Kyoko turned left in the vent, and then left again, then right. "Argh," she thought angrily. "Where the heck is she?"
Suddenly Kyoko stopped and listened. She heard a female voice pleading somewhere further to her right. Following the noise, she could make out what the voice was saying as she got closer.
"Let me out of here," a familiar female voice yelled. "Victorique," Kyoko exclaimed, her heart skipping a beat and her stomach tying in knots at the thought of being reunited with her friend.
"Be quiet already," another female voice scolded. "They're not going to listen to you."
Kyoko froze. "Another prisoner," she wondered, hoping it wasn't other ninja that were standing guard at Victorique's cell.
Kyoko finally made it to the vent that was opposite and overlooked the cells. In one cell was a beautiful teenage girl with long, shiny black hair. She had the most brilliant green eyes and was wearing a light blue kimono with a white obi. She was also standing up in her cell trying to peer at the other woman in the cell next to hers.
"Victorique," Kyoko thought happily. "It really is her! She's gotten so much older and more beautiful too! She looks so much like her mom…"
Looking into the other cell, Kyoko saw the other woman, who had pupil-less light brown eyes and short, violet purple hair that was done up in a spiky ponytail. Something struck Kyoko as familiar when she saw her but ignored it, slithering through the vent and towards Victorique's cell.
"A s-snake," Victorique stuttered looking at the black and red snake coming toward her, stumbling backwards and into a sitting position as she tried to back away from it.
"Huh," the other woman questioned as she got up from her sitting position from the back of the cell and moved toward the front to get a better look at the snake in question. "It has…keys?"
Just then, in a puff of smoke, Kyoko appeared before them, swinging the keys around and around on her right index finger and with her left hand on her hip.
"K-Kyoko," Victorique stammered. "Is it…is it really you?"
"Keep it down will ya," Kyoko told her best friend sternly. "I'm glad you remember me after all these years." Kyoko pulled one of her famous grins and a genuine giggle, something she hadn't done in a long time.
Victorique gasped. "WH-What are you doing here," she whispered.
"Saving you of course," Kyoko continued smiling. "But enough talking we need to get out of here quickly. We can catch up later."
"Right," Victorique replied seriously as Kyoko moved toward the cell, peeling off the seal that had been placed there and removing the barrier. Kyoko unlocked the cell and the two friends couldn't help but share a long, meaningful hug.
"After all these years," Victorique whispered through tearing eyes. "You came back."
"Of course," Kyoko whispered back, also tearing up. "I made a promise that we'd be friends when we grew up didn't I?"
"Ya," Victorique whispered again, reflecting on the promise they had made in the red of the dawn light so many years ago.
They broke out of the hug wiping their tears and looked at each other seriously. "Time to get out of here," Kyoko said determinedly.
"Right," Victorique agreed. "Let's go."
They were about to head off when a voice made them stop. "Wait," the fierce whisper came from the next cell over. "You're a Konoha ninja aren't you?" The woman pointedly stared at the headband Kyoko was wearing.
"Ummmm," Kyoko thought about the question and her vow never to get involved with ninja again. "Ya…I guess so…but who are you?"
"I'm Anko…Anko Mitarashi," she replied. "I was a Konoha ninja too, until I was kidnapped by Kabuto. You have to help me, please."
Suddenly Kyoko realized why she seemed familiar. "Hey," she remembered you're the ninja Lady Tsunade and the ANBU were looking for…"
"Ya," Anko said matter-of-factly. "That would be me."
"Sure," Kyoko agreed. "I'll help you too."
Kyoko peeled off the seal that was also placed on Anko's cell, removing the barrier, and unlocked the cell door. Kyoko noticed that when Anko walked out she was fairly weak.
"Come on," Anko ordered. "I can help us all get out of here. I know a way out."
Hesitantly, Kyoko and Victorique followed her. "I hope we can all get out of here before they notice," Kyoko thought worriedly. "If we get caught by Orochimaru or Kabuto…we're all in trouble."
