Wow. I'm so sorry for the delay. My computer crashed, and I lost all my files, and I just... didn't want to write anymore. Thanks to a stroke of luck, I found a copy. I'll try to finish, but I may have to start a sequel. It's gotten incredibly long.
Here is chapter 52, posted... roughly a year after my last.
Chapter 52
Mayuri had been kept in the confines of Naruto's main office, wrists sealed with the same sigils Keturah had placed on his body shortly after the raid. He sat in a chair, staring blankly at Ibiki, almost amused at the attempts to break him.
Keturah and Mejia had even tried to break Mayuri. Mayuri only laughed maniacally. Keturah and Mejia were given awards for their help, and granted a fair trial. No one was too worried about the trials; the good deeds they had done far outweighed the bad.
They were relentlessly trying to crack Mayuri, using every trick that they had in the book. They'd even tried water torture. Ibiki stepped out, rubbing his head.
"He's one tough son of a bitch." He stated. Naruto frowned.
"The sand kids aren't going to like hearing that, you know." He said, but turned to go find them. He strolled through the Konoha streets, nodding and smiling at the passerby. He smelled fresh ramen, and let his nose guide him, almost forgetting his purpose.
He heard a click of wood, and he looked in at Ichiraku's. The "sand kids" were sitting at the bar, eating one of his favorite things. Karasu was leaned against the stool that Sheeva was sitting on. He smiled, took off his hat, and walked in.
"So you finally discovered the magnificence of Ichiraku's." He announced. They turned, shocked, and smiled back at him.
"Any luck with Mayuri?" Sheeva asked, curious. Naruto sat himself down and ordered a bowl of beef ramen.
"Unfortunately, no. Even Ibiki said: 'He's one tough son of a bitch'. Seems that torture's not really working." He admitted, trying to mimic Ibiki to make them laugh. They weren't too impressed, but Naruto dismissed it.
He sighed again.
"I don't really know what to do." He stated.
"Has Lady Tsunade tried talking to him?" Eva asked. Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, she beat him to a pulp, then even healed him afterward. He only laughed at her the whole time. It was über creepy. He hasn't said a word to anyone." He reached into his pocket and set some money on the counter to pay for their bowls of ramen. Ayame smiled at him.
Sheeva stared at the remnants of her bowl, suddenly losing her appetite with the thought she'd had. Calmly, she set her chopsticks down and stared at the beefy broth. She took a deep breath.
"He doesn't want to talk to you… or your interrogators, for that matter." She stated boldly. Naruto looked over at her, amazed, a noodle hanging out of his mouth.
"You suggesting that you talk to him?" He asked, mouth full. Sheeva nodded.
"Yes. It's worth a shot." Naruto hurriedly swallowed his mouthful of food.
"No way! Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari would kill me if I let him anywhere near you. Especially if I left you alone with the freak!" He barked. Sheeva chuckled, and smiled a little bit.
"Do you have a better idea?" She said, staring back at him. He could see by the look in her eyes that this kid was fearless. Sheeva had grown up a lot in the last few years, Naruto realized.
"You're not scared?" He asked. Her expression darkened.
"There are… worse things a person can endure." She stated. Naruto hadn't gotten around to reading her briefing of the mission, so he wasn't sure what she was referring to. He figured he would eventually.
Naruto sighed.
"Ok. We'll go there after this. You've got half an hour. That's all. Kiba, Eva, keep Temari and Kankuro away from my office for a while." He relented. Kiba and Eva nodded.
Naruto took his time eating for once, trying to stall for time. He kept hoping she would change her mind, but he knew she wouldn't. She seemed to be a patient woman. Sheeva was still sipping on her broth when Naruto finished. Sheeva rolled her eyes. Finally!
She said a quick goodbye to Kiba before she had the chance to turn back, and followed Naruto to his office. Naruto stayed back while she set her hand on the door, taking a deep breath before opening the door…
Mayuri looked up, and upon seeing Sheeva walking in, he smiled widely. She didn't return it, but grabbed a chair and sat down in front of him. She forced herself to look him in the eyes for a few minutes. She had to keep her head in this one.
"Good to see you, fool. How are you holding up?" He asked. He looked miserable; his face was beaten to a hellish black and blue state. She couldn't find any ounce of pity.
She merely chuckled, laughing off the insult.
"Fine." She said dismissively. Mayuri smirked.
"I half expected you to be terrified of me." He said. She crossed her right leg over her left, leaning back in the chair.
"You sound almost disappointed. Hope this is a humiliating realization for you: there are far worse things to fear." She told him. They stared at each other for a little bit longer, not saying a word. The hatred between the two filled the room with such tension Naruto could almost feel it on the other side of the door.
The collar around Mayuri's neck reflected the setting sun in Sheeva's eyes through the window. Mayuri found himself being distracted by the reflection of the sun in her dark brown eyes.
"Take this infernal collar off of me, would you?" He asked. The request took her by surprise, and she stared at him quizzically. Mayuri rolled his eyes.
"Your uncle slapped the damn thing on me after Keturah and Mejia went AWOL. He put one on all of us. He is probably listening to this conversation. Being as I'm going to die anyway, might as well try to sabotage the bastard. What a wonderful way to go, right?" He explained. Sheeva's eyes turned to slits, but she grabbed a kunai and reached for the collar. She pressed the blade against his neck, almost tempted to slice open his throat. She cut off the collar and it fell off and to the floor.
"You'll want to step on that good, ya?" He put on a false foreign accent. She wasn't in the mood for his jokes, but stomped on the collar, breaking the little tracker it held. She sat back down, crossing her legs and her arms, leaning back in the chair.
"Now, where were we?" He asked, ogling her. She blinked and ignored his eyes. Normally, they would have freaked her out, being yellow and snake-like, but not now. He noticed that she was ignoring him.
"You were about to tell me something important, it seemed." She reminded him. He was just laying banter on, and thickly. She didn't care for it.
He blinked as he registered her immense change in attitude.
"Well, you seem to have changed considerably. Did you enjoy your time in the back of your mind?" He asked. This caught her off guard. She smirked to cover her surprise.
"So you know. Suppose so. It helped me out, so I guess I have you to thank for that." She stated, figuring she'd continue to play this game in hopes of getting the information she needed.
"It's a jutsu I invented. I was intending on trapping you there. It worked every other time."
She shrugged.
"I have to admit, I didn't expect you to get out of it, and, even if you had, with your sanity still intact. Or… does your fearlessness mean that you have lost your sanity? After all, in madness, there is true freedom." He questioned. Sheeva smirked.
"You forget. I have two things that you will never have."
Mayuri quirked an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"Friends and family that love me. They wouldn't have let me drown so easily. Or die, for that matter."
Mayuri nodded his head.
"I had plenty of time to think about what you'd said, about death being a blissful eternity. Suppose you're right. Thanks to you, I'm not afraid to die. There are worse things than that, too." She said, calmly.
"Then, you'll continue to try to get rid of Naomi, even when I tell you that you will have to die to do so?" Mayuri asked. Sheeva blinked, and nodded.
"I figured that was how it would end up."
Mayuri sneered at her.
"You were so pathetic in the beginning. You were so weak. So scared, of everything and everyone around you. I succeeded in making you fearless, it seems. So, congrats to myself. My work here is done." He stated, leaning his head back. He began to smolder, the air around him hissing as it heated up and steam rising off of his skin as the water droplets in the air evaporated.
"Shit!" Sheeva jumped out of her chair, grabbed him, and rushed to the window, breaking it and trying to throw him out.
He lashed out his tongue, which wrapped around her neck. She grabbed a knife from her side and sliced it off, and Mayuri screamed, falling out of the window. Naruto barreled in the door, rushing over to her as he heard the window break. He could hear Mayuri laughing maniacally as he fell.
Naruto's stomach rose into his chest and he ran to the edge of the window, watching as Mayuri exploded like a bomb, taking out a large chunk of the buildings around him. Naruto tried to maintain his footing as the building shook.
Sheeva watched calmly as he burned, but then her mind began to race with questions, imagining possible results of their future actions. Would they have the information they needed? Would their efforts alone be enough?
"What the hell happened?" Naruto asked.
"He was gonna take you, me, and the entire office out with him if I hadn't tried to throw him out the window. Sorry, but I had no choice." She explained.
Naruto stared out of the broken window, stunned.
"Well, I wonder how long until the others get here. Wanna bet that Kiba gets here first?" Sheeva giggled, somewhat jokingly, trying to lighten the situation. Naruto looked at her incredulously.
"You're joking, right? Did you find out anything before he tried to blow the place up?" He asked. Sheeva shrugged.
"He said that there was nothing that he could do. Even then, I'd have to die before they could get rid of Naomi. Oh, look. There's Temari." She smiled shortly as she spotted Temari's blonde pineapple-looking hair. She was bounding towards the building at an alarming speed. Naruto wasn't amused with Sheeva's actions. He was frustrated with her carefree reactions.
"What are we gonna do about you, dammit?" He barked. Sheeva remained silent, trying to piece together her thoughts.
"I'm beginning to wonder: if I'm gonna have to die anyway, and there's nothing anyone can do about it, what's the point of trying? Shouldn't I just be attempting to live as much as I can with the time I've got?" She said. Her calm was beginning to give off an eerie vibe. Naruto blinked.
"Have you tried talking to Tsunade? Or, Gaara?" He asked. Sheeva looked down, thinking. Tsunade? What could Tsunade do? And, why Gaara? She opened her mouth to ask him, but was interrupted when Temari ran in, panting. Seeing Naruto and Sheeva alive and well, a look of relief spread across her face.
When Kankuro and Kiba rushed in together, Sheeva gave Kiba a confused look. Wasn't he supposed to be holding Kankuro at bay? Eva was the last to arrive, mouth open and eyes wide at the destruction of the office.
"Oh, shit." Eva muttered, shocked.
Sheeva chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head.
"What….?" Kankuro trailed off, staring at the shattered glass from the window on the carpet floor.
"Mayuri tried to take this place out with him." Sheeva explained. Kankuro and Temari flew off the handle, as they'd suspected, glaring daggers at Naruto.
"You let my daughter near that freak?" Kankuro barked, outraged. Naruto put up his hands in protest, but Sheeva stepped in.
"Dad, I was the only one that he would talk to. It wasn't very informing; he just confirmed some suspicions of mine." She explained. Kankuro and Temari settled down.
"What suspicions?" Kiba asked, curious. Sheeva looked up at him.
"I think you already know, Kiba. We all know what I have to do to get rid of Naomi." She stated, not wanting to have to say it. It already hurt enough knowing it.
Sheeva turned her back on them, scanning the horizon, thinking. What could she do, other than lay down and die?
"Were you born with Naomi?" Naruto asked, a sudden spark of intelligence surfacing the cobwebbed parts of his brain. She shook her head.
"She was sealed into me by Aku." Sheeva sighed as the memory came back in full, thankful to her time in the void. She hardly winced at it. It was only a memory, no longer a threat.
"Maybe you can reverse the sealing jutsu." Naruto suggested. Everyone stared at him, flabbergasted. He scowled at them, insulted by their lack of trust in him. He had his moments, he'd just never voiced them.
Sheeva thought on that suggestion.
"Maybe. As far as I know, I've only got two hearts. Nothing else had doubled, yet. Suppose it's worth a shot. Who can do it, though, besides Aku? He's the one that knows the jutsu."
Naruto crossed his arms.
"What I wanna know is how he did it without dying. 'Equivalent exchange' and all that..." He watched everyone's eyes curiously, interested to see who might pick up on the reference. When no one did, he sighed, and smirked to himself.
Sheeva sighed, and walked closer to the window, unsheathing her wings.
"I'm going to talk to Tsunade. By myself, preferably. I'll see you all later." Sheeva jumped out, allowed her wings to catch the thermals, and took off.
Yes, I broke the fourth wall. Do I care? Not really.
I feel good, being able to finally post this.
If anyone can tell me how to forward reviews to my main email, please do. It's mostly the reason why i haven't written anything in so long.
Sheeva1331
