Okay, so that was a lot of angst last chapter. And now…I give you more angst. Silver says that I'm really good at the angst. Or maybe it's that I'm really good at putting in a LOT of angst. Well, something like that :)P
Anyway, now it's time to check back into how things are going with Naruto, because as it's pointed out, having someone so close to him captured and probably about to die is not doing good things to his psyche. Then again, most things in this story don't do good things to his psyche. A psychiatrist would have a field day with him and Sasuke, I'm sure. PTSD, BPD, ADHD, Sociopathy, OCD, MPD, and that's just to start.
Also, Mikan, I'm planning special timing for what you're looking forward to. I may also plan for a special appearance by everyone's favorite pervy ninja. Let me know what you guys think about that, alright?
But, for now, let's zoom in on the Leaf and see how badly things are going.
Naruto's P.O.V.
"Granny Tsunade!" I throw open the door to her office, ignoring the chunin guards trying to stop me from getting in there. "When's the next patrol going out!?" I can't just keep destroying training posts and trees anymore. I need to DO something!
She shoots me a withering look and puts the papers in her hands down, lacing her fingers together. "Naruto, I've already told you, there's nothing that you can do right now."
"Bullshit!" There's plenty that I can do, and I'll prove it! "Ciara is out there and needs my help! The Akatsuki are going to kill her if I don't go!" And I can't…I can't let that happen. I can't lose her right now, not like this… The two of us need to stick together so that we can fight the Akatsuki when they come!
"Naruto!" Her hands twitch as she glares at me. "I have teams out scouring the entire nation, and I've sent some ANBU Black Ops to other lands to track down whatever leads they can find. I've also contacted the Kazekage and asked for his help in locating her. His reply came back last night and he's agreed to help us search for her. There are teams from the Sand already being deployed." Her lips twitch into a slight smile. "Apparently she made a very strong impression on their ninjas while she was there. Several members of their medical corps volunteered to help with the search."
"That's not good enough!" The longer we take to find her, the more likely that she won't survive! "Why won't you let me go back out and look for her!?"
"Because you're not a tracker!" She slams a fist down onto her desk, cracking it in half. "Naruto, you may be able to produce hundred of those shadow clones of yours, but she's likely not even in the Land of Fire anymore. I shouldn't deploy you at all, considering that the Akatsuki are after her AND you, but for now, you'll have to wait until one of the teams gets back to us with a location, otherwise I would be sending you on a wild goose chase. That would waste precious time that we don't have. So stay here until we get the information we need. I have reports coming in every hour from all of the teams. When they find her, I'll send Kakashi for you."
"But that's not-" It's not good enough! Why can't she see that!?
"NARUTO!" This time, she shatters her desk completely as she jumps to her feet, sending papers flying everywhere. "Jiraiya is also investigating the Akatsuki! No is not the time to lose faith in the abilities of your comrades!" She seethes a little longer, sitting back down in her chairs, her desk lying in ruins around her. "Conserve your strength. Once we have a location, you're going to need it."
I want to punch her so badly that I can taste it. But I know…this mess isn't Granny's fault…it's mine… I should have been there with her… "I hate this…" I hate not knowing where she is. I hate not being able to really help find her. She could be dead for all I know, and then…what do I do? She's been with me since…forever, now.
Dammit! If I can't keep her safe, then how am I supposed to bring Sasuke home?
I sigh as I look out at the village from the top of one of the trees around the mansion. I swear that I can see the whole village from here, I can see all the way to the mountains on the other side. It's beautiful here. She should be here to see it, too…
I hate this. I hate not being able to help her. I hate feeling so useless right now!
"Hey, Naruto!" That's Sakura's voice.
Glancing down, I notice that Sakura is hanging around near the bottom of the tree. She's glaring at me, again, but this time she's got an… Huh!? Is than an apron!? I mean, I know that sometimes she'll be in the kitchen with Ciara and cook, or just take over the kitchen entirely when the two of us were training back before Asuma-Sensei passed away.
I shake my head, trying to shake the memories OUT of my head. I wish that worked as well as it sounds. "Yeah, Sakura?"
She puts her hands on her hips and taps her foot. "Dinner's ready! So get down and come back inside!"
Dinner, huh…? I wonder if Ciara is having dinner right now…? Can she get food where she is? I sure hope so, but would whoever took her give her the food she needs? After a battle, she can eat almost as much as I can. We burn through energy fast.
"Naruto!"
"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" I sigh and stand up, leaping down from the tree to land next to Sakura. "Sorry, I was just…thinking…"
Her frown softens and I can see the sadness reflected in her eyes. "You were thinking about her, weren't you?"
"Yeah…" I mean, how can I think about anything else right now? She's gone, and I should have been there to protect her. I should have insisted that I go as well, and the three of us could easily have taken down whoever took her and Utakata. I mean, it had to have been the Akatsuki, right? They snatched up two jinchuuriki and left behind the destruction produced by a pretty intense battle. I saw the traces of the fire blast, and I know that she must have fought hard.
"Naruto…" A soft hand touches my hand, pulling me along down the from the peak, and I blink twice to focus my vision on Sakura, who stares at me unhappily. "Come on…you need to eat. You've been sitting up there all day. Starving yourself isn't going to help her, you know? You have to build up your strength for when we go out to get her back. Sai's out there with the tracking teams, so we have to be ready to go as soon as he sends us a message."
That's right…Sai is out there as well. And if he finds anything, we'll be the first people he sends a message to. "You're right." Besides, Ciara isn't one to die so easily. If she can handle stopping me from killing Pervy Sage when we goofed up and the fox took control, then she can handle staying alive until we can find her. She can…she definitely can… She has to…
"Come on." Sakura pushes open the back door to the gigantic house, closing it behind us as we take off our sandals. "There's rice balls, salad, miso soup, and fried pork. I even picked up some mochi while I was at the market."
"That sounds good." And as she lists it, my stomach grumbles. She's right. If I'm going to get the call and find out where to go to find my friend, then I've got to do it on a full stomach.
Still…the fact that she's not here makes this place feel…not quite right. It's still warm, inviting, safe…but there's just something missing, something that she brings to this place that makes it all…comfortable, natural. Because right now, it feels like there's a gaping void just peeking out from behind every corner. And finding her is the only way I know of to fill it.
Ciara's P.O.V.
It's silent…
Dark…
Cold…
Empty…
Lonely…
Nothingness…not even the sound of his voice to comfort me.
A dull ache where my heart should be.
My arms have long since gone numb, something I wish my wings would do right about now. If I move, they drag, if they drag, the broken bones scrape along the floor and shoot pain straight into my back, aggravating the scabbed over but unhealed skin there.
It burns there too, where my skin has been torn to shreds. That's probably infection setting in. But…I don't care.
They're dead. Itachi is dead. Utakata is dead. Yagura, Yugito, Roshi, Han, Fu…they're all dead. I should have done something. I don't know what, but…something, anything… But now they're dead…and it's all my fault.
It's my fault…and because of that…I'll be joining them soon…
There's no tears left for me to cry. Dehydration, I'd call it. It's been…five…six days, now? Longer? I don't…know. I can't see. There's nothing to listen to. Even the sound of a ticking clock would be better than this endless silence.
A click in front of me makes my heart leap, and my ears twitch as I listen to the sound of a door opening. And footsteps, one pair approaching faster than the others. Approaching closer than the others. Who…?
"Karin, get the injuries on her back. Suigetsu, float the broken bones so that Jugo can set them." That's…Sasuke, isn't it? I half-thought that his voice appearing the last time was my imagination, but…here it is again. Or maybe I'm just hallucinating again.
I can hear four distinct footsteps moving around, one of them striding about almost silently near the door. The tearing of paper catches my attention, and so does the slow trickle of chakra through my body. Is he…is he undoing the seals?
The trickle of chakra increases into a steady flow, not much, but enough that my limbs don't feel quite so dead anymore. But the ones on my skin have my mind remaining stubbornly silent. I hate the silence.
The mask over my mouth is removed first, letting me take in a deep breath of stale dungeon air. "You came back?" My voice is a rasp, my throat as dry as a desert
"Hn." Gentle fingers reach up and around the feathers protruding from my head, removing the mask around my eyes and nearly blinding me with the dim light filtering in from the hall outside.
And there they are, those deep onyx eyes that I know so well. Sasuke… Even if this is just a hallucination conjured to comfort me before I die, then I'll take it. I just don't want to die alone in this place, surrounded by people who see me as nothing but a weapon and an animal.
He glances over my shoulder, nodding slightly. I wonder why…
Then, a damp cloth presses to my back, and my wounds protest violently to the intense burning of a surgery-grade antiseptic. "Ngh!" I bite my lip to hold it in, but it feels like my back is being scrubbed with acid.
"Quit squirming!" The hand holding the cloth presses down hard, opening up the scabbed over wounds to get at the surface of my skin. "Your injuries are all infected. You'll die if I don't treat you." Funny that she would say that, considering why I'm here. Karin, I think Sasuke called her? "Hell, you might die even if I do treat you. The infection is definitely in your blood by now."
"I know." I take another deep breath, gritting my teeth as she presses down again. If only he could touch my mind, let out his chakra…then everything would be oka- "AH!" I lurch away from her as the bones in my left wing pull and stretch and stab through the delicate skin under the feathers.
"Sorry about that!" Water swirls about as I look over into the darkness. There's two people there, one with white hair, the other with bright orange hair that almost reminds me of him…the one who attacked us. But the way that he lifts my wing, gently, if a little gingerly, assures me that he's not the same person. Besides, he's too young, and he definitely doesn't have all of the piercings that the other one did.
The pale one ambles about, coating the floor in water and soaking my clothes as the water level rises under my shattered wings. "This is way more complicated than I thought it was going to be."
"Suigetsu, be careful." The ginger touches carefully, stretching and straightening the wing across the surface of the water. "The bones are hollow and fragile, we need to be careful with them."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it, be careful with the huge demon wings." Suigetsu rolls his eyes as he raises the swells beneath them. "Why are we doing this anyway, Sasuke?"
Before me, Sasuke's gaze sharpens, falling on his…comrade? Teammate? I'm not entirely sure what their relationship is, but he seems to be giving the order, nonetheless. "Did you enjoy being in that tank, Suigetsu?"
Suigetsu frowns. "Uh…duh? Of course not."
"Then why do you seem to think she likes sitting here in the dark with her wings broken and wounds infected?" I think…what Sasuke is implying is that he's trying to make me more comfortable. Or at least make this experience less torturous.
I guess the torture part gets to come later.
"Alright, alright, sheesh…" Suigetsu goes about lifting pieces here and there for…I think the last one's name is Jugo. "Uptight, bossy, annoying…" He grumbles the whole long way while his partner straightens out each bone piece by piece.
Dark eyes turn back on me, searching mine, searching for answers. "Has anyone else come to see you?"
"No." Only the sheer agony of my back and wings tells me that this isn't some kind of merciful hallucination. "Only you."
He frowns, then reaches into a bag attached to his hip and pulls out a small canteen. I can hear the water swirling inside it, and it makes my mouth feel indescribably dry. "Drink." He uncorks it and holds it to my lips.
I suppose that it doesn't really matter if it's poisoned or not. So I tilt my head slightly and let the first few drops of water run past my lips and down my throat. It's cold, smooth, and it soothes the feeling of sandpaper in my throat. He lifts the canteen as the water drains slowly, pulling back slightly when another of Karin's attempts to clean my back sends some water down the wrong way and I fall into a coughing fit.
"Be careful." I'm not sure if he's saying it to me or to Karin, but Sasuke raises a cloth to my face, wiping away the water and a smear of blood along with it. "Can you purge infections from your body the way you do poison?" Ah…he means like in the Land of Tea.
I shake my head slightly, my head pounding from the rush of blood. "It's his power that does it, not mine." And I can't hear him. It's been so long since I last heard him.
"Right…" His gaze drops to my stomach and his onyx eyes swirl to red. "There's seals that are restricting the use of chakra."
"Yes." Both restricting chakra, and diving our minds from each other. It hurts. It hurts to be alone in my own head. I would do…almost anything to hear his voice one last time. Even if it's right before I die. "I can't…hear him anymore. I can't even feel the touch of his chakra."
"He?" Suigetsu tugs on my other wing, straightening out some of the bones and fluffing up the feathers. "What are you talking about?"
"Suzaku…" I sigh and close my eyes, as if doing that will help bring his presence back.
"The demon, right?" My eyes open to Sasuke's slightly quizzical expression. But it looks more like he just wants confirmation of what he already knows.
"Yes." My gaze drops to my stomach, where I can't even feel the seal anymore. But now that it's been compounded with another seal, my body just feels heavy. Then again, that might just be the chains still clamped around my wrists and ankles.
"Alright." I twitch in surprise as he places his free hand to my stomach, feeling around there a little. When he presses his fingers into the torn fabric of my shirt, I pull back a little. "What is it?"
"What are you doing?" I know that this is Sasuke, but I only ever let Naruto touch where my seal lies invisible against my skin. Not even Jiraiya gets to touch that place.
"I'm going to disrupt the seals." His Sharingan spin into a new shape and they look…almost like a pair of magnolia blossoms. "That should allow enough chakra through for your body to heal."
He's going to shoot chakra into them and force them to break using a chakra spike? I suppose that it's possible to do that for one or two of them, but I've probably been layered in so many seals, weak ones that they might be, that breaking all of them would be impossible without a sealing expert, or enough time for Suzaku to force them open manually. "A little lower." If he takes off the seals on my hands, they'll know, but if he disrupts the invisible ones, then maybe I'll be able to hear him again. Maybe I won't be alone in my head anymore.
Sasuke frowns as he lowers his hand, pressing his palm firmly to my skin. His chakra pulses, seeping inside and towards the heaviness inside me. "Your chakra is all twisted up."
"Please…" I close my eyes, exhausted by the agony of my back and the drastic lack of chakra I've been dealing with the last…however long I've been here. I need to hear him again, I need to feel my friend inside me.
His chakra pulses again, fierce and blazing hot. "Karin, are you almost done with her wounds?"
The girl behind me scoffs and finally takes her hands off my back. "Yeah, but only what's on the surface. I can't cure what's already inside of her."
"That's fine, she can handle that part." His fingers dig in a bit deeper as he motions to Suigetsu and Jugo. "Are you done?"
"Yes, all of the bones have been realigned." Jugo steps back and wrings the water out of his cloak. "What now?"
"Now, you and Suigetsu stand back and stay clear of her wings. Karin, block any hint of chakra from leaving this room." It seems like he planned for this. "I'm going to disrupt the seals now."
"Alright…" Jugo backs away and flattens himself against a wall.
Suigetsu looks at me sceptically, but does the same. "Are you sure that this is a good idea? Break those seals, and you could set her off on us. And I really don't wanna see what she can do with her chakra restored."
"Suigetsu." Sasuke's scarlet eyes glare at his teammate. "Shut up."
"Sasuke…" I sigh and shake my head. "I told you, it's alright." After all, how can I expect them to act any differently when they don't know me? "I don't expect any differently."
Something in his eyes hardens, but he doesn't say a word about it. Instead, he just flares his chakra, focusing it all into a series of pulses through my abdomen. It hurts, but I've had worse. Hell, their treatment of my back and wings was worse than this.
"Sasuke, I've done it." Karin's hands are held together and I can feel the chakra coming from her.
Wait, I can feel it? I take in a breath and I can feel the chakra flowing. Another pulse blasts through me, then another, and another, until something inside me shatters and I cry out in pain. Or maybe it's relief. I honestly don't know anymore.
Chick…I am here.
My eyes flash open as a minor floodgate opens and the room fills to the brim with chakra. Mine. And his as well.
Sasuke's P.O.V.
I thought that I'd accounted for all of the variables. Chakra fluctuations, traps within the seals, accidental detonation, all of it that the books explained. I fought that Cloud jinchuuriki. I should have expected the backlash to have been this extreme.
The chakra lashes out, pushing me back towards the wall as visible streams of white and fiery red chakra race around the room. Her mouth is open in a silent scream, her arms tugging violently on the chains holding them apart.
Then comes the snap, a loud, unforgiving snap as her wings convulse, catching fire and rising into the air as the broken bones fuse themselves back together, giving shape back to the wings that stretch out along the walls and ceiling. Her hair catches fire as well, burning with a bright scarlet fire that matches the feathers sticking up around her face.
Her chakra pulses once, twice, then the wings flare out one last time before burning away into a small column of smoke rising from her back. Those fiery eyes glow at me from in the flickering darkness, before the light leaves them. She slumps forward, limp and unmoving. The wings and feathers are all gone, and so is the fire, leaving her body perfectly untouched by the flames.
The chakra in the room dissipates and Suigetsu decides that it's safe enough to pry himself out of the corner he stuffed himself into. "What the hell was THAT!? Are you crazy, Sasuke!? Why would you want to just partly unseal this kind of power!?"
"It's because she has this power." The power to destroy whole villages, nations, even. "And she has information, access, and skills that I require." Information that will clearly have to wait until later. "The three of you can go now, she'll be asleep for a while." And when her fever breaks, I have questions for her.
Ciara's P.O.V.
"Chick…Chick…can you hear me?" Yeah, I can hear a voice, but it sounds like it's right in front of me, or above me, instead of in my head. But that's impossible. Isn't it?
My eyelids feel heavy, but I force them open to the sight of a clear blue sky. "What…?" I could have sworn that I was locked in a dungeon somewhere. When did I get outside?
A soft, rumbling laugh whispers to me on the breeze. "Hello, Chick."
"Chick?" But that voice is… "Suzaku?" I roll over onto my stomach and look up to see a huge red bird the size of a small mountain, floating contentedly on a clear blue pond. Wait…I know this place. "Are we inside my mind?"
His giant head bobs up and down, flames spilling off of it and disappearing into the air. "Yes. Your body is healing, and I thought it would be wise for you to remain here, where you feel no pain. And it has been too long since I last felt the touch of your mind, your heart, that I felt some time together would be productive."
Suzaku… Tears well up in my eyes, cascading down my cheeks as I see one of those people I miss so dearly. "Yeah…I think so too."
A smile twinkles in his eyes and he sweeps his wing over me, scooping me up and bringing me to rest against his neck. "Now, why don't you tell me what's transpired while I've been asleep?"
"What's happened, huh…?" I lean against the soft feathers and close my eyes. "Well…I found Sasuke again. Or, I guess…he found me instead. You probably know that we're locked up in a dungeon right now, but it's strange…" I hadn't expected to find Sasuke here, to say the least. "He's been asking me questions and telling me things…" Things that disturb me, but also validate what I thought. And the way that he said some of it makes me come to some devastating conclusions. "…He said that someone ordered Itachi to commit genocide against the Uchiha Clan. He said that it was the village elders."
"And I take it that you believe this information?" Suzaku goes quiet for a moment, humming softly, but strongly enough that it reminds me of a massage chair that Jiraiya once put me in while I slept when I was fourteen. "I do not know Itachi as well as you, but from what I saw through your eyes, I would have to say that I agree that the boy would not have done such a thing lightly, nor out of his own desire to slaughter his kin. And then…for it to come so soon on the heels of your own tragedy…"
"Yeah." It's suspicious, but that's not enough to convict someone of ordering genocide. And Itachi can hardly be tried for it. He's…dead.
"I am sorry, Chick. I know that the boy meant a lot to you, but he was beyond your help, and beyond even mine when we reached him. It was his time, however prematurely that time may have been. And there was nothing that you could have done to change that."
"I know." I know it in my head, but in my heart…I just feel like there was something I could have done. Anything. If I'd learned that ninjutsu from Lady Chiyo, then maybe… I would have had enough chakra to do it without giving up my life, I'd caught him right before he took his last breath, so his spirit hadn't left his body just yet. So maybe…just maybe…
"Chick…" He nuzzles me with the side of his giant face. "That boy loved you, that much has always been clear. And he would not want your heart to suffer like this."
Something else that I know in my head, but it's definitely not that easy. Nothing is ever that easy. "Why do you think they did it?" If they did it, which, if they did, needs to be proven first. And I know just who to ask to track down the proof I'd need. The proof that Sasuke would need…
"Chick…there are many in this world who believe that it would function at its best if they were the ones to control it. And in order to do so, those who are more powerful must be removed from that power. To humans, murder is an ancient tool in order to achieve those ends." He sounds sad, the wisdom of so many years weighing heavily in his words. "And your family had ensured that in order to remove any other clans from their positions of power, an assailant would be forced to remove the protector, before attacking the target."
When I was young, I didn't understand at all what that meant, but now, I'm not under those same illusions. Maybe they're not all lifted just yet, but they're being stripped away one by one, and it hurts. Every single time…it hurts. "They had to take us out first…because they knew that if they moved against the Uchiha and their plans were leaked, we would stop it. If Dad was still alive when the Uchiha were threatened, then he would have stopped it all. Does that sound right?"
"Indeed, Chick. I am well aware of what you saw that night, and I believe that you are correct. You were betrayed, and it was merely one of many steps to solidify the power of one within the village who desires neither peace, cooperation, nor understanding. Someone who is incapable of desiring what it is that your family has long since held dear."
Long since held dear, huh? I suppose that he's right. No one in my family would be able to order such a thing. We've always held too much love and respect for life to ever condone the murder of an innocent, let alone the slaughter of an entire bloodline. The young…the old…none were spared. None but Sasuke. "Then what do I do? How do I protect Naruto from the Akatsuki? How do I protect Sasuke from being hurt again? How do I stop others from suffering the same fate?"
"Ah, Chick…all you can do is your very best. And that is all that anyone can ask of you." He sighs, nearly squishing me into his soft, warm feathers. "For now, however, we face a far more immediate problem."
"Yeah." He's right. There's nothing that I can do to protect anyone right now. And then, there's the fate that awaits me here if it proves impossible for me to escape. "Hey Suzaku…you know what happens to jinchuuriki when their demon is taken out, don't you?"
"…Yes." If we die together, our souls ripped away from each other, I will die, and he will be taken by the Akatsuki, to use and abuse as they see fit. But…that's not the only option before us.
"Suzaku…if it looks like the Akatsuki are going to get their way, will you support me?" I know how I would rather this end, and if that means taking Suzaku with me to protect him from being taken by them, then that's what I'll do. I'll take him with me, and maybe in a few years, or a few decades, he can reform himself and be free.
He wraps me up all nice and warm, a comfort to my dark thoughts. "Of course, Chick. I will always support you."
Good. Because this is the only way to protect him, too.