Alright.
Welp, it's another chapter of this story.
Without further ado, yadda yadda
Chapter 33: Trapped and Departing
Sakura wasn't sure when she regained consciousness, but the lack of and bright lights when she opened her eyes had her immediately wondering where she was.
She examined her surroundings without any real feeling. The room she was inside was a simple, if not well equipped medical station, perhaps a bit on the small side. There were bottles of all different kinds on the shelf across from her, and a sink at the back of the room that looked like it didn't see much use. It was also, somewhat unnervingly, poorly lit, and Sakura had to strain her eyes just to see the door at the far end of the room, and to notice the fact that it was quite locked.
A spike of panic arose in her chest, but she fought it back as she tried to sling herself alongside her bed's edge to go investigate.
This attempt to get up was met with a swift and painful cry from her entire being.
Oh, ok, my bad. Sakura told her own body as she laid back down. No getting up, got it.
She'd briefly forgotten just how bad things had gotten in the forest, she hadn't just lost her match against Gaara, but she'd been bleeding out for what she presumed must've been at least a half hour before she could've been rescued.
I guess it makes sense that I'm not in the best shape then.
Still, the room before her was one she'd never seen before, despite visiting Sasuke and Naruto in the hospital more than a few times. She thought she'd have at least known where in the hospital she was, but something about… everything just seemed to rub her the wrong way.
She let a bit of her chakra out, just to try and get a read on if there was anyone nearby or not, and her eyes widened with a small shock as the walls of the room blocked her from reaching outside.
Is this a specially designed room or something? Sakura thought as her panic continued to rise. Just what's going on…?
Where the hell am I!?
As if answering her, the door at the far side of the room let out a small noise. It sounded almost like the release of a sealing Jutsu, ones she'd heard a few times as she'd absorbed all she could from Anko's teachings. A second later, someone pushed the door open, and she got her first look at just who was keeping her here.
"Good morning, Miss Haruno." A woman with a blank, almost unfeeling expression stepped inside, wearing a simple, white lab coat, and with a clipboard in her left hand. "How are you feeling?"
"Uhm… excuse me?" She spoke up, pushing herself up with her hands and leaning back against the wall behind her. "Where exactly am I?"
The woman across from her looked up from her clipboard. Sakura had at first thought she was annoyed at having been ignored, but it appeared that the woman's face just kind of looked like that naturally.
"That's not important right now." The doctor replied. "How are you feeling?"
Sakura squinted in annoyance but decided to just answer the question.
"Kind of terrible, honestly. My stomach still hurts from where I got stabbed, and I still feel a bit woozy… is that because of the blood loss?"
"Indeed, it is." The doctor seemingly glossed over the rest of what she'd said, not even bothering to write it down in her notes. "How about the back of your neck, your curse mark, how does that feel?"
…I'm getting some not so good vibes from this lady.
"Decent enough. My neck hurts just as much as the rest of me, but it's not the burning kind of pain I get from the curse mark, just the dull ache of being knocked around a lot, I guess.
The woman did write that down, though Sakura wasn't exactly sure what part of that would be useful, given that it was basically a continuation of what she'd just said.
Already, Sakura had a pretty clear picture of what was going on.
They're after information on my curse mark, obviously. She concluded. But why? They already did a ton of tests on it a few weeks back, and they've had Anko around for like a decade, why would they need to do research now?
Is it because Orochimaru attacked the village? She wondered. Do they think they can get some information about him out of my curse mark?
Sakura didn't really see how they thought that, given that they'd already tried and failed, but she felt it was best to stay quiet and let the lady in front of her deal with that.
"Alright, and, before your accidental usage of it in the forest, were you aware that the curse mark allowed you to use the Wood Style?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
The woman looked up, face completely serious as she spoke again.
"Were you aware that your curse mark gave you access to the first Hokage's hidden Jutsu, the Wood Style?"
Her eyes must've given her away, because a second later, the doctor merely sighed, before jotting something down on her notepad and looking back up.
"I assume then that you had no idea."
"…Yeah… yeah I had no idea."
She couldn't quite help but be shocked. She had been able to use the First Hokage's lost art of the Wood Style!? Of all the people who could've rediscovered it, it wasn't the man's brother, himself a Hokage, or one of his descendants, but her. Just Sakura Haruno, a little girl from the Leaf Village who had no idea what the hell she was doing.
"Uhm, if you don't mind me asking, miss, just how did I use the Wood Style in the first place?"
"Ah, right." The woman brought something out of her back pocket. "Here, take a look at this."
Upon first inspection, Sakura couldn't help but find the twig inside of the plastic bag in front of her a bit underwhelming. It wasn't at all like the first Hokage's forests that he could conjure at will, or his massive flowers that could blossom unto the battlefield, causing all near them to put down their weapons in surrender.
It was a twig, and a skinny one at that.
"Not… very impressive, is it?"
"On the contrary, Miss Haruno, it is one of the most impressive shows of Jutsu this world has seen in more than half a century."
She looked up, a bit shocked and embarrassed that the woman would say such a thing.
"It may be due in part to the curse mark on your neck," The woman smiled reassuringly, though the expression seemed somehow muted. "But it was undoubtedly due to your own skill as well. You can and should feel very proud of what you've accomplished."
Without really meaning to, Sakura puffed up her chest. Perhaps it was a character flaw, but she'd always relished being complimented, being told she'd done a good job, told she did something impressive. She had a feeling it had to do with being bullied for most of her school life, and through being far worse in combat than Naruto and Sasuke had always been. She'd grown so used to standing by and hearing about their accomplishments, that getting told she'd done well, completely separate from them, always gave her a skip in her step.
"Now, if you wouldn't mind, you should have regained enough plasma in the last three days for me to be able to take a small blood sample." The woman drew a needle out of her coat pocket, and Sakura briefly flinched away from it. "It won't hurt, I promise."
"D-define small." Sakura couldn't help but ask, feeling a bit nervous that proper medical procedures were perhaps not being followed. "Because I'm fairly sure you're not supposed to take anything out after I nearly died of blood loss."
"I mean a few milliliters, nothing that could put you in danger."
She sighed in obvious relief, eliciting a small laugh from the woman in front of her. The doctor stepped forward, placing her knee onto Sakura's bed as she propped herself up, reached behind Sakura's neck, and prepared the area with a small wipe.
It took only a second for Sakura to realize something was wrong.
The needle already had something in it.
"Uhm, ma'am?" Sakura spoke as she scooted slightly to the left, trying to get out of the woman's pin. "What exactly is it you're using that needle for?"
"Well, I just said I'd be taking your-"
"Why is there already a liquid inside the needle, then, ma'am."
In an instant, the woman's calming smile was gone. In its place stood a blank expression, like that of complete boredom. The woman reached out with her left hand at blinding speeds, grabbing Sakura's wrist, and gripping far harder than was comfortable.
"We wanted to make sure you wouldn't be under any duress, so we were going to administer a small anesthetic to the area first."
Something's wrong.
"If you would please sit still for me."
Where the hell am I!?
"I promise this'll be over quickly."
I'm scared… Sakura realized silently, backing away from the woman until her back hit the wall behind her. What is this… who are these people!?
The doctor gripped her wrist, and pushed forward once more, drawing the needle out and preparing to stab it into the back of Sakura's neck.
She tried with all her might to resist, but her strength hadn't yet returned. She was still weak from the blood loss she'd already endured, not to mention the multiple aches and pains all over her body. Even when she reached for her curse mark in a desperate, final attempt to hold the woman off, she found the thing sluggish and slow to respond.
Help… Someone please…
"Be still, girl." The woman spoke as she leaned in. "This'll all be over soon."
"Help me!" Sakura shouted.
The door at the back of the room exploded inwards a second later, and in jumped another woman, though this one was dressed entirely differently from the doctor in front of her. She wore a cream colored trench-coat, had her hair drawn up behind her, and seemed to think fish-nets constituted an actual outfit. Where there was usually a smile, or an overconfident smirk, now there was only a look of quiet fury.
"Might I ask what exactly you're doing to my student?" Anko Mitarashi asked as she stepped into the room, and Sakura watched as a few snakes began to flow out of her left sleeve. "Because, unless I'm mistaken, she doesn't seem to be enjoying this very much at all."
The doctor stood up, letting go of Sakura's hand as she took a battle stance.
"How did you-"
"Find this place?" Anko finished the woman's sentence, taking a step forward with a scowl. "I've worked with you assholes plenty of times before. I followed one of you here on a whim a few years back. Turns out you can't keep a group of over 200 people completely secret."
The other woman stepped backwards, pressing a button on the side of a shelf nearby, in what Sakura assumed was a way to call for aid.
"Now, I don't know about you, Sakura, but I'm feeling mighty tired of this place already." Her mentor looked over towards her, sending her a small grin that had her immediately feeling better. "Shall we head on out, maybe get a bite to eat on the way back?"
That…
She laughed as relief flooded through her, nearly falling to the floor as the shock of the situation dissipated inside of her.
Sounds wonderful.
"Yeah, I'd love to."
"Good, then let's-"
"You can't leave!" The doctor spoke as she stepped forward once more, face set like a stone statue. "If you do, then we won't be able to extract the secrets of Orochimaru's curse mark, and we won't be able to determine just how you utilized the wood style! Just think, all you'd need to do is submit to a few experiments, and we'd be able to have a serious weapon to defend the Leaf Village!" The woman took another step forward, into Anko's effective range. "Think this through, the two of you-"
A blow to the back of the woman's neck had her crumpling into the stone below, the needle breaking open and spilling its contents upon the ground.
"Ready, Sakura?" Anko asked quietly.
"Y-yeah." She responded, looking down to the woman on the floor below her. "Uhm… is she going to be alright?"
"She's one of Root's top researches, and if you're the top of anything in Root, then you're a tough son of a bitch." Anko smiled reassuringly. "Trust me, she'll be just fine."
Sakura nodded, before allowing Anko to take her hand and lead her out into the hall where she'd burst in from.
Sakura's eyes widened at what she saw.
Where she'd expected to see a single hallway, she instead entered into a massive compound. There were four central paths that hung over what seemed at a glance to be an endless void below. When Sakura gazed over the edge, she saw that there were even more hallways, connecting different rooms that seemed to extend forever and ever below, snaking through the darkness like tiny beams of light.
"What is this place?" Sakura turned back to her teacher as the two took a left-hand turn. "I mean, you said it's Root, but what's Root?"
"Complicated explanation, if I'm being honest." Anko stepped forward, not even bothering to check around the corner as she led them forward. "They're technically a nonexistent group, they were dissolved by the Third Hokage… gods, forever ago now. It was right after the Uchiha Massacre."
A chill shot up Sakura's spine.
"Why did Lord Third dissolve them?"
"No one really knows." Anko shrugged her shoulders with an apologetic look on her face. "And yeah, I know that's probably the least satisfying answer in history, but it's all I've got."
"Anyways, ever since then, they've been operating in secret, waiting for an opportunity to… well, not step back into the limelight, given that they were never really in it at all, but I guess no longer have to pretend they don't exist."
Sakura nodded, at the very least understanding what her mentor was saying.
"By the way, Sensei, why aren't we… sneaking around?" She asked nervously, looking around her and just waiting for the inevitable ambush. "Shouldn't we be being a bit quieter or something."
"Well, I did sneak in, but I figured after that woman pressed her little help switch, there wasn't much we could do. I reckon if we're fast, we'll at least be half-way out of here by the time we get caught, get me?"
"Er… yeah, I guess."
"Anyways, when they find us, let me do the talking." Anko turned back around and gave Sakura a winning smile. "I may not be an expert, but I've taken a few negotiating classes in my day."
Sakura gave a quiet laugh.
"Sure, sensei."
"Oh? Are you doubting your master!?"
"No, no, definitely not."
"You so are!"
A scream cut through their jovial mood like a knife.
It echoed through the corridors around them for what seemed like forever, bouncing off of the spacious ceiling and far-off floor. Sakura's eyes widened as she listened to it, feeling terror overtake her as she stepped forward into Anko's body.
"What was that?"
Anko grimaced, clearly having hoped Sakura wouldn't hear something like that.
"Well, unfortunately, Root is the kind to leave nothing up to chance. If I were to bet, that's some poor sap from the sound village they captured during the retaking of the Village. They're probably interrogating her for something, anything they can get about Orochimaru and his plans." Anko took Sakura's hand in her own and gave a light squeeze. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do. Honestly, there's nothing we should do, either. If this is how we get information on Orochimaru… well, it's gruesome, but it could prevent the deaths of hundreds or even thousands of our Leaf Ninja in the future."
Sakura didn't like it, but she could acknowledge at least that she understood the purpose.
At least until the second scream.
She'd been too shocked to really listen to the first one, given that the hall had been silent up until it had rang out, but this time, she could finally pick up on some of the subtleties of the person's voice. It was, for starters, a female voice. She'd known that the first time by the pitch of the scream, but upon hearing it again, she realized something.
Actually, thinking about it, I feel like I've heard that… scream… before.
Her eyes widened as she took off down the corridor, following her ears as best she could as she heard the girl scream again.
Below!
"Sakura, what the hell are you-"
"I know that scream!" She shouted back to her mentor, trying not to panic as she jumped off the platform onto another some twenty feet below.
She channeled chakra into her legs and landed with a roll, running into the opening in the wall as the screaming began to grow louder. A second later she heard another person land just behind her, and she knew by the way they followed that it must've been Anko.
She rounded the corner, zigzagging through complicated halls and doing her best to follow the sound of screaming that grew louder by the second.
When she reached the source of the noise, a single, metal door that was locked from the inside, she felt a rage overcome her that was quite unlike anything she'd felt before.
No, that wasn't quite true. When Naruto had been taken over by the nine-tails, she'd had these same feelings towards Haku for killing him. Even after he'd recovered, Sakura had had a difficult time forgiving him in the beginning, even if she'd ultimately given that up far quicker than Sasuke had.
And she'd felt it one other time as well, at another point in time where, just like right now, she'd let the curse mark flow over and through her. She'd felt that anger at being used as a pawn against her friends in the forest of death, used by the very person she was now trying to save. She focused the curse marks chakra into her right first, and, with a growl under her breath, punched the door with all her might.
It didn't fly off it's hinges like the one Anko had blown down, but it did, at the very least, break the lock.
Two heads turned towards her immediately. Both were interrogators, one of which had an odd sort of tool in his right hand, one that didn't seem directly related to torture, but rather for reading some sort of result, and the other was a slightly taller man, with orange hair drawn down around his face.
He had his hands around Kin's head in a way that made it seem as if he were reading her mind somehow. A second later, upon recognizing the stance from Ino's father, she realized that the man truly was reading the girl's mind.
He must've been a Yamanaka.
"Who the hell are you!?" The second man asked, face covered in a black mask with goggles upon it. At first glance, she thought he looked a bit like Shino. "Fu, get the commander, we have a situation."
"Do we terminate this one?" The man asked, reaching over onto his back, and pulling his blade out, holding it over Kin's throat as casually as if he were lifting it to butter bread.
"No, once we deal with the intruders, we can resume the interrogation."
It was at that moment that Sakura realized Kin's bare leg was on display. Her pant-leg had been draw up to a bit above her thigh, and the exposed flesh was colored rather oddly. It looked like half the leg had been horribly bruised, but even further than that. It took Sakura another second to realize the bruise was moving.
She nearly screamed as she put two and two together.
They've been torturing her with bugs crawling inside of her skin, poisoning her ever so slowly. Sakura realized, feeling the same anger from earlier build inside her core, threatening to overtake her as the curse mark covered more and more of her body. They've been reading inside her mind, and when she doesn't want to show what's there, they let the poison in further.
Kin's screams from before echoed inside her head. They reminded her of her own failure in the forest, but now, the girl was… well, not a friend, but at the very least someone she'd wanted to get to know a bit more. Without thinking about it, the curse mark overtook more of her body, flowing even along the tips of her fingertips.
Her anger was white hot as she drew a weapon out of her bag, but a hand on her shoulder had her stepping backwards. She looked up towards Anko in confusion, but her mentor's expression prevented her from making a move.
"Everyone in this building will be at least as good as a skilled Jonin." Anko walked forward, cracking her neck. "Luckily, your Sensei's just a bit better."
There was no motion from the two standing beside Kin's body, the one with the orange hair Sakura presumed was Fu, and the one with the mask on his face seemed to have an ability to control insects, which probably made them…
A Yamanaka and an Aburame. Sakura tried to think through the red haze hovering over her thoughts. Who cares, I just have to destroy them…
An odd sense of calm overtook the curse marks will for just a moment, and she realized with a start that she had slipped into it, without even realizing. She lightly slapped both of her cheeks with her hands and watched as the curse mark receded slightly on her left arm.
I can't forget that the curse mark only wants me to use it so it can abuse me. Sakura affirmed, taking a battle stance, but standing behind Anko by a way's. I won't get in Anko's way, but I'll be here if she needs me. That's my role.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the curse mark seemed to recede even further at that, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"Enough."
The voice that called out was stern, but it did not sound worried, fearful, or engaged in any way with what they were doing. If anything, the voice sounded above it all, like a teacher at a preschool having to tell off a particularly ill-behaved child.
"Master Danzo." Fu and his partner immediately sheathed their weapons, kneeling down before the man that was stalking his way into their small room. "Our apologies sir, but this woman-"
"Silence, I am aware." Danzo looked towards her and Anko, eyes hard as they surveyed the rest of the room. "I do not believe Miss Sakura was given the clearance to leave."
"I didn't realize you had the power to keep her here." Anko challenged, stepping forward and priming herself. This time, however, Sakura noticed her stance was not one of confidence, but of slight fear.
To Sakura, it seemed to signal that, at best, Anko didn't know how this fight would end if they fought.
At worst, Anko thought she'd lose.
"The Third Hokage has perished, and I have been named the Fifth. We are in a state of martial law, as such, I am the foremost authority in the village, and the only authority."
Lord Third is dead!? Her eyes widened minutely, but she knew better than to interject herself in this conversation. I never really talked with the man, but he seemed nice…
I hope Naruto's OK.
"Sorry, but I've read some of those laws, acted under them as well, and I don't believe a single one of them gives you the right to kidnap a child." Anko's expression was cold. "Though that's never stopped you before now, I suppose."
Far from being caught off guard by her master's comments, Danzo merely put his cane in front of him, leaning on it as he looked towards the tow of them, completely unimpressed.
"What I have done has always been-"
"In the interest of the Leaf Village, I'm sure." Anko sounded disgusted, and Sakura, through her brief interaction with the man before her, was beginning to see why. "So why exactly are you torturing three Genin who were under the Third Hokage's specific protection?"
That comment, at the very least, caused the man to stop speaking. Sakura didn't quite understand what was going on, but apparently interfering with someone who was protected by the Hokage meant… something.
"Hiruzen is dead." The man replied simply. "His will died with him. I will do what I must to protect the Leaf Village. If that means going behind the back of a dead man, then I will do it."
"Except that the Third Hokage already got information out of these three." Anko pointed out, walking back over to where Kin's body was still laying still upon a raised cot. She briefly inspected the girl's leg, before grimacing, and looking back towards Danzo with a look of pure hate. "And when I look at how she was interrogated, I see very few signs that any work was done to force information out of her, or to convince her to sell out her comrades in some way."
Danzo's eye opened for the first time, and the man squinted at Anko as his fist tightened atop his cane.
"Your point?"
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm trying to say." Anko spoke, stepping past Fu and his parter without making eye contact with either. "You're not after information about Orochimaru. If you were, then your soldiers would've taken more prisoners when they were clearing out the Leaf Village. No, instead, there was a nearly ninety-seven percent mortality rating among the sound ninja, and that three percent comes largely from other unaffiliated Konoha Ninja, and from sound ninja's who gave themselves up. Hell, even with this girl, you decided that the best way to torture her was to use a fast-acting, deadly poison. I don't know how you see it, but to me, this all paint's a very interesting picture."
"You're insinuating something very dangerous, Anko." Danzo spoke in his same calm voice, but there was an edge at the back of it that hadn't been there before. "Are you accusing me of-"
"Collusion with Orochimaru in the attack?" Anko confirmed, watching as everyone in the room, including Sakura, flinched ever-so slightly at the accusation, all reaching for their weapons. "No, I'd never do something like that. After all, you're the active Hokage, to say you colluded with an enemy of the Leaf… that's preposterous. Treasonous, even."
Anko stepped forward, so that she stood beside Sakura.
"But what I am saying, Danzo, is that you should be more careful about how your actions come across." Her teacher took Sakura's hand in her own, holding it tightly as she dragged her past the man. "Wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea about you, would they?"
As she was pulled forward, Sakura couldn't help but realize they were leaving someone behind.
"Anko Sensei!" She called, trying to dig her heels in both physically and metaphorically. "What about Kin, and her team!?"
Anko's smile held no joy as she looked back over to her.
"Sorry, Sakura, but we don't have much of a choice." Anko gestured to the multiple Root ninja who, having either been summoned by the previous doctor's button, or by the arrival of Danzo himself, were now congregating around the door themselves. "It's us or no one."
No… I refuse to accept that.
"Now, come on, we have to get out of here before-"
"Excuse me, Mr. Danzo!"
Every head in the entire room turned towards her, Danzo's included, and the man in question looked particularly confused.
"If… If I stayed, would you let those three go!?" It was an idea she couldn't help but blurt out, one born of a longing to save those three that had seemingly been cursed by the very universe itself. "I'll let you look into my curse mark, and the wood style, and… and I'll-"
"Very well." Danzo spoke suddenly, without an ounce of hesitation in his voice.
The man wore an odd expression upon his face as he stepped forward, looking down upon her with a wry smile. Whenever the Third Hokage had donned the look, he'd looked like a grandfather, one which could be trusted with all your deepest secrets, but just having a bit of fun. On Danzo, it looked like you'd played the wrong move, made a mistake, and the man before you was briefly celebrating before he beat you into the ground with it.
"Fu, you go down into the lower brig and let the other two know they're being released. Torune, remove your insects and administer an antidote immediately." Danzo walked over to her, staring smugly at Anko as he did. "Doctor, escort Miss Haruno back to her room. Oh, and have Miss Mitarashi escorted off the premises as well."
"No can do, asshat." Anko stepped in front of Sakura, crossing her arms. "I'll be staying along for your research as well."
Danzo's eyes widened, as if trying to sense a problem with the offer.
"You won't complain, will you?" Anko argued. "After all, having a control group to test things on would certainly help your research, wouldn't it. I am the only other person in the Leaf Village with a curse mark."
Danzo still seemed unsure, but a second later, he smiled once more, realizing why it was Anko would do such a thing.
"Why, Anko, how unexpected." He stepped by the woman, his cane loudly cracking on the ground as he did. "It's not like a snake to grow attached."
"Funny, I'd thought you hadn't heard of that attachment thing." Anko stared through slits at the man as he passed by, still standing protectively in front of Sakura. "You should try it some time, I hear women all over are into the short, calculating and ugly type."
Danzo didn't rise to the rather weak bait, instead letting the cracking of his cane upon the ground be his only answer as he left the premises, gradually making his way out of sight. Upon disappearing, the Anbu who'd been guarding him did as well, going their separate ways as they flashed out of view.
"That was stupid of you." Anko began simply, looking down at her with an unimpressed glare. "You have to understand that the people here are merciless. They will defend the Leaf Village to the last man, and they have no qualms about destroying anyone or anything that gets in their way."
That was all well and good to Sakura, because as she watched the man behind her, Torune as Danzo had called him, extract the poisoned beetles out of Kin's leg and prop her up on the backboard behind her, as she watched the girl's breaths finally grow easy, she couldn't really find it in herself to care what she'd signed up for.
What you signed the both of you up for. Her brain reminded her. Anko came along too, but that was just to help you with your decision. She didn't have to do this, you know.
"Thank you, for staying with me." Sakura spoke guiltily. "I'm not sorry that I chose to do this, but I am sorry you got wrapped up in it."
Anko squinted annoyedly, flicked Sakura's forehead lightly, and then sighed exasperatedly.
"Eh, it's no biggie. Besides I couldn't just leave my favorite student out to dry in some creepy old man's basement, now could I?"
Her mentor's comments had her giggling, up until the same Doctor from earlier, the woman who'd tried to anesthetize her, walked up to the two of them and cleared her throat.
"I will escort the two of you to your rooms."
"Room, singular." Anko spoke out, raising an eyebrow in challenge. "You're not separating me from her, not in here."
The Doctor seemed to contemplate that for a moment, before nodding her head, and holding her hand out as if to guide them.
"In that case, I will escort the two of you to your room."
Anko smiled down at her, a small, fragile thing that Sakura couldn't quite get a handle on.
Just what kind of place was root to elicit such a reaction from her normally unflappable teacher? Who was this Danzo man, the replacement to Lord Third and the new Fifth Hokage? Just what kinds of tests would they be doing on her?
She squeezed Anko's hand, and the woman squeezed back. She didn't look up at Anko, but she did smile slightly at the reassurance of the older woman beside her. She let out a breath, steeled herself, and looked the Doctor before them in the eye.
"Lead the way."
/-/
Naruto sat quietly beside Sasuke at the bar of Ichiraku Ramen. Neither of them spoke, for truly, they didn't really know what to say.
The old man… he's really dead.
They, like the rest of the Leaf Village, had received the bad news only a few hours after the invading sound and sand ninja's had been pushed out of the village, and it had hit them just as hard, if not harder, than the average citizen.
After all, the Third Hokage had been a comforting figure in both of their lives, though certainly to different degrees.
"Here you are, you two." Old Man Teuchi set two new bowls in front of them, offering them a comforting smile as he did. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about Lord Hokage. He was a good man, even an old guy like me could see it."
Naruto smiled at the owner, doing his best not to let himself slip back into his depressive atmosphere. Sasuke was already half-way into the new bowl, and whether that was some odd quirk the boy had picked up to combat sadness, or if he really was just that hungry, Naruto had no idea.
After they'd both finished diving into their massive piles of noodles and meat, they looked up towards Ayame, who was leaning over the bar and shooting them a smile.
"So, where's Sakura?" The girl asked, seemingly trying to distract the two of them from how they were feeling. "Is she still recovering?"
"Mhm." Sasuke confirmed, sipping the last of the broth out of his bowl as he set it down and pushed it forward. "We went to visit her yesterday, but apparently they're doing some tests about how the curse mark is affecting her body for the next couple days, so they told us she'd be exhausted for a while."
"We'll still visit anyways," Naruto chimed in, smirking genially as he placed his bowl atop the counter, a quiet request for another. "The rules have never stopped us before!"
"The rules have stopped me numerous times." Sasuke shot him a glare. "Don't include me in your little rebellion."
"Oh? You saying you won't come?"
"Well… I didn't exactly say that."
"Yep, that's what I thought."
"I see, I see." Ayame spoke, giggling quietly as she pushed Naruto's new bowl back across the counter. "So, what are the two of you up to?"
"Waiting." Sasuke answered bluntly. "Both of our teachers are missing at the moment. Well, Jiraiya's just being his usual self, or so Naruto tells me, but I actually haven't heard from Kakashi in a few days." Sasuke rubbed his chin with his hand. "I doubt it's anything sinister, they're probably just dealing with clean-ups related to the attack."
"Ah, I get it."
"That freakin' frog guy!" Naruto shouted angrily, minorly startling a few people who passed by behind him. "I swear he goes missing every five seconds!"
"Oh, talking about me, are we?"
Naruto nearly jumped out of his seat, and directly into his bowl of ramen. He turned around, glaring at the veritable giant as he tried to retain some of his dignity.
By the smirk on the man's face, he was fairly sure it hadn't worked.
"I'll have whatever this brat had." Jiraiya smirked at Ayame, in a way that had Naruto glaring at him even harder. "By the way, I must say you look simply-"
"STOP!" Naruto shouted, punching the man's chest ineffectually. "No being a creepy old man around people I know!"
"Don't worry, Naruto." Ayame shot him a quick smile, stepping back to go and make more ramen as her father washed their bowls. "I'm not so easy as to fall to this man's charms."
Jiraiya guffawed rather loudly at the girl's comments, almost completely ignoring Naruto as he chatted back and forth with Teuchi.
"Wait, Frog guy," Naruto asked the man. "Have you been here before?"
"Are you kidding?" Jiraiya asked, sounding almost offended. "This place's been around about as long as I have. Well, give or take a few years. I don't stop in all that often, given that I'm practically never here, but yeah, I've been."
"He used to be one of our top customers until he just didn't come back one day." Teuchi called form the back. "I just assumed he'd been killed or something, and then one day, maybe 4 years later, he just walks in, completely casually, and orders his 'usual', as if I'd still remember it after all that time."
"Hey, you did remember it!"
"That's not the point!"
Both old men then proceeded to laugh at some inside joke, which Naruto didn't even pretend to understand.
"Oh, right, the point." Jiraiya quickly gulped down the noodles he'd had in his mouth, sighed in bliss as he did, and then turned to Naruto. "You and I are going on a trip."
Naruto tilted his head to the side.
"Why?" He asked, suspicious.
"We're off to go get a new Hokage."
Naruto's head tilted just a bit more.
"Don't we… already have one?"
Jiraiya turned his head, doing one of the fastest area sweeps Naruto had ever seen, and a second later, there was a single croak of a frog from off in the distance. Whatever the signal meant, it was apparently enough for Jiraiya, for he nodded to himself. He looked across the counter, towards the two Ramen chefs, and shot the both of them a look that they seemed to pick up on.
"It would be better for you if you didn't hear this." It seemed to say.
They made themselves scarce, washing dishes and making more ramen to distract themselves. When Jiraiya was fully satisfied they wouldn't listen in, he turned back towards the both of them and continued.
"I have reason to suspect Danzo of being complicit in Orochimaru's scheme to attack the Leaf Village."
Both Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes widened. They hadn't had any real cause to doubt Danzo, given that he was the right hand man of the Third Hokage. They, like most people, had simply assumed he was a good person, much like the old man himself.
"Why do you think that, Frog guy?"
"OK, first off, stop calling me frog guy, I do other things than summon frogs."
Naruto thought long and hard about that, scratching his chin as he tried to summon another title that would fit as well as Frog Guy had.
…Well he called himself a sage, right?
"Pervy Sage, then." Naruto smiled smugly. "And that's final."
"That's way worse!" Jiraiya shouted.
"Well, you should be careful what you wish for!"
"Quiet, please." Sasuke interjected, sighing. "Jiraiya Sensei, if I may ask, where's Kakashi? I haven't seen him in a few days."
"Ah, that…" Jiraiya hesitated, looking around once again as he seemed to debate on what to say. "He was dealing with some of the wrap-up here in the Leaf, y'know, helping to get the last dregs of sound ninja out, that kind of thing."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Clearly something about that sounded wrong to him.
"Ok, so what actually happened?"
"Alright, fine, fine." Jiraiya raised his hands in surrender. "Some guys from a known terrorist group were sighted in the Leaf Village. Kakashi, along with Asuma and Kurenai, went to fight them off. Kakashi suffered some damage, and he's recovering."
"What's the name of the terrorist group?"
"They're called 'Above your pay grade'."
Sasuke scowled, but nodded, at the very least accepting that. Naruto was briefly concerned about Kakashi's wellbeing, but if Jiraiya was able to talk so casually about it, then he was probably fine.
"Anyways, the reason we're heading out is to go and retrieve the next Hokage, like I said. The person we're getting is Tsunade, the last of the three Sannin, and the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju."
"Huh." Naruto spoke, a lot of that information washing right over him. "Neat, I guess."
Jiraiya just sighed.
"Anyways, Kakashi should be up and about given a few more days, so he should be able to get back to training you around then." Jiraiya pushed himself up from the stool he'd been sat upon, placed his pay down on the counter, nodded to Teuchi, and gestured for Naruto to follow. "If all goes well, we'll be back within a week."
"How likely is it that things will go well?" Naruto asked, feeling more than a little suspicious.
"Eh, knowing Tsunade?" Jiraiya sighed. "Probably not very likely."
"Wait!"
Jiraiya and Naruto both turned, to where Sasuke stood, having just paid for his own meal. He had a steel in his gaze that Naruto hadn't seen for a while.
"I'd like to go as well."
Jiraiya's eyes widened, but he didn't instantly shoot the idea down. No, he seemed to be honestly considering it.
"And why should I take you along?" Jiraiya asked, smirking in that annoying way he always did. "What's in it for me?"
Sasuke seemed confused by that.
"Uhm… Technically nothing, I suppose?"
"Well, at least you're honest. Alright, fine, what do you hope to gain by coming?"
"Respectfully sir, you are a Sannin, despite how much you seem to downplay that fact with… everything else about you."
"That's hurtful."
"You don't deny it, though, do you?" Sasuke spoke, sighing exasperatedly a moment later. "Listen, I'm trying to surpass my brother, and I'll do anything to get the power to defeat him."
Jiraiya paused for a moment, his eyes scanning Sasuke's very soul as they gazed at him.
"Anything?"
Sasuke seemed about ready to parrot the phrase, when, all of a sudden, he hesitated. It was the first time Naruto had seen the boy sound unsure regarding his brother.
"No, there's a few things I wouldn't do," Sasuke answered honestly. "But kiss up to one of the most incompetently strong ninja I've ever met? That I'll do in a heartbeat."
"With all due respect kid, which is none, by the way, if this is what you consider kissing up, you should probably practice a bit more." Jiraiya groaned loudly. "Fine, you can come. We're leaving in an hour. Don't think I'm waiting for either of you if you're not at the gate ready to go when I arrive."
Sasuke nodded, before turning back towards his house and rushing off. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the boy's conduct, and the situation they'd found themselves in.
I get to go on a training trip with Sasuke! Naruto mentally cheered, saying his goodbye's to Jiraiya and making his way back to his house. This is gonna be awesome!
They'd always done much better when they were competing against one another, that much was for certain. Naruto was fairly confident in saying that he'd learned much more from their spars than in his entire time at the academy. If they were really going to be learning things on the same scale as what he'd learned with Jiraiya on his own…
Maybe he'll teach Sasuke how to summon a frog! Naruto thought to himself, cackling slightly as he packed away a few spare outfits and a few cups of ramen. Or maybe he'll turn Sasuke's hair white.
Naruto would pay to see that.
As he finished gathering his stuff, stuffing it into his bag as best he could, and slung it along his back, a single thought seemed to push through to the forefront of his mind.
What was it that Sasuke meant when he said there were a few things he wouldn't do?
A long time ago, he'd once asked Sasuke what he'd do in order to kill his brother. The answer had been an immediate "whatever it takes.". It had been edgy as hell, for one thing, but it had also been a fairly good indicator of how much Sasuke valued himself and those around him. At the time, everything to the boy had simply been a method of reaching Itachi, of gaining his revenge.
…Did that change somehow? Naruto thought. I mean, we did have that talk in the park… and I told him I wanted him to find a reason to live that wasn't just us…
Naruto smiled suddenly as he realized what it was Sasuke wouldn't do.
He wouldn't harm any of his friends, would he?
It was obvious upon further thinking. He'd missed it, most likely, because it was so obvious a thing. Still, the words weren't enough for him to reconsider Sasuke's self-destructive tendencies.
I'm more than willing to bet he'd still give his own life for Itachi's. Naruto sighed. The damned idiot, doesn't he realize we care about him…
Well, of course he does, it's the only reason he's not going out there and doing his best to find and challenge Itachi as we speak. Naruto realized with a sigh. Still, it'd be a lot easier to relax if he could just… I don't know… settle down a bit.
But was that fair to Sasuke?
It doesn't feel fair, Naruto concluded as he descended the stairs of his apartment complex and headed out to the gate to meet up with Jiraiya. Asking him to give up on his aspirations just because it scares me… scares us… that's not fair, is it.
He sighed as his thought process got far too complicated for him to be dealing with, and by the time he was actually able to focus, he'd already made it to the gate. When he arrived, he saw Sasuke first and foremost, but no sign of Jiraiya, who'd assured them that if either of them were late, he'd have left them behind.
"Where's pervy sage?" Naruto asked, looking around for the man as he said it. "Is he just late, or…?"
"He's over there," Sasuke pointed with his thumb where, sure enough, Jiraiya was talking with the gatekeepers about something. "Trying to earn us permission to leave the village on an unsanctioned mission."
"Oh… Wait, since when does he need permission to do anything?"
"Yeah that's basically what he said when he talked to them." Sasuke explained. "Obviously a Genin can't leave the village on their own, but a world-renowned Jonin should be able to basically do whatever he wants, within reason."
That did seem rather odd to Naruto, though a second later it seemed the matter at the gate was finalized. Jiraiya walked back over to them, whispering curses under his breath as he took a deep, calming breath.
"Welp, we can leave, but Naruto has to stay here."
"Wait, what!?" Naruto shouted, wondering just what the hell that was about. "Why do I have to stay here."
"Because that's what our illustrious Lord Hokage desires." Jiraiya sighed. "He's very particular about 'assets' leaving the village, especially dangerous ones that house Tailed-Beasts."
Does that mean… am I really not going?
"Hey Naruto?" Jiraiya asked.
"Y-yeah?"
"Can you give me a transformation Jutsu?"
"Uhm… sure, why?"
"No reason, just transform into another of the Genin you know, one that isn't Sakura."
"Oh, uh…" Without really thinking too hard, he put his hands together, shouted "Transformation!" At the top of his lungs and was Tenten a second later. "How about this?"
"Alright, cool, come with me." Jiraiya gestured for the two to follow him as he walked up the gatekeepers, who Naruto was pretty sure were named Izumo and Kotetsu, having spoken with them a good number of times on their way out of the village. "Hey you two, welp, Naruto had to stay behind, so I went and grabbed Miss Tenten from Team Guy."
Naruto, or, well, Tenten looked up at Jiraiya, a look of absolute disbelief on his face as he stared hard at the man.
Does he actually expect this dumb plan to work!? Naruto was, frankly, astounded. They literally watched me transform!
"Hmm…" Kotetsu leaned forward, smiling peculiarly as he did. "Yep, seems to be Tenten from Team Guy to me." The man stamped down on a form in front of him, before jotting down a small note. "Yes, yes, everything does seem to be in order. Izumo?"
"Mhm," The other man commented, smirking to himself. "It does seem like Tenten of team Guy, Sasuke Uchiha of Team 7, and Jiraiya of the Sannin. I see no reason to prevent them from leaving the village."
"Alright, you three are cleared to go." The gatekeepers gave a small wink as they went back to their papers, laughing quietly to themselves as Jiraiya led them out of the gate.
As they traveled a bit further, and Naruto listened to Jiraiya laugh at his expense, he couldn't help growing a bit upset.
"Alright, you could've just told me the gatekeepers were in on it." Naruto spoke annoyedly as he released his transformation Jutsu.
"And miss out on the look on your face!?" Jiraiya turned to look at him, guffawing to himself. "Not a damn chance."
"Where are we off to, Jiraiya Sensei?" Sasuke asked, sounding like a giant kiss-ass.
"To the nearest gambling parlor." Jiraiya exclaimed, as if that made all the sense in the world. "We'll start looking there."
He and Sasuke exchanged a small look. Neither of them seemed to know what was going on.
"Uhm, Pervy Sage? Why would she be at a place like that?"
"Tsunade loves gambling like you love Ramen. It's hard for her to go a day without indulging herself. Trust me, it's the casinos we're looking for."
"Ok, but even if she had been there, why would they have any information on where she is?" Sasuke asked, feeling rather skeptical. "I mean, we'd basically have to search every casino in the country at that rate."
"Let's just say that Tsunade's a bit of an odd person, who's built herself something of a…"
Jiraiya sighed, even as a weary smile carved it's way onto his face.
"Reputation."
End Chapter 33
Yo.
Alright, Arc set-ups and whatnot.
Sakura and Anko bail out the Sound Ninja's again, who at this point have to have been smited by the universe to have luck this bad. Sasuke joins Naruto and Jiraiya to go get Tsunade back, and Danzo's being shady as hell.
This is nothing new, though, so whatever.
In other news, I may be flying back to my old home state in order to help move some of my family's stuff back to where we live now, so if you don't get a chapter next week, that's why.
Basically, assume you'll get one, and if you don't, well...
My bad, I guess.
See you all in (Number ranging from 1 to 2) week(s?)!