Hello everyone! I want to give a special shout out to my best friend (who goes by Devouring Rush here on ) for helping me out a lot with this story. They've been amazing and patient with every little question and insecurity I've taken to them, and I appreciate the heck out of them. So this chapter is dedicated to them! Sorry it's not a happier one.

On that note, warnings for this chapter are pretty similar to the previous ones. Mentions of death, violence, blood, etc. Honestly, that's probably going to be a recurring theme for a while. Oops.

As always, dear reader, I hope you enjoy this chapter!


"It's a shame," Kabuto sighed from behind her. "She was one of our best medics."

His hand clapped down on her shoulder, and Mayuri didn't so much as flinch. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the body before her, face peaceful in death and chest a shredded mess of bone and flesh. The blood was still pooling beneath them both, warm and sticky and soaking into the stone floor and into her ruined clothes. It would be hard to remove the stains from either one.

She heard Kabuto tut as he knelt down and took her hand, stretching it towards him so he could inspect the crook of her elbow.

"You tore out your IVs. That's dangerous, Mayuri-chan. You're lucky I'm here to heal it for you."

At that, a startled laugh burst from her chest. It was barely audible, tight and rasping. He was worried about her arm, when there were literal bones bursting out of her chest? She was bleeding from more places than she could name, and he was worried about her ripping out a couple needles? She tore her eyes away from Emi's body to watch him with narrowed, empty eyes.

Kabuto jerked his hand back as a jagged bone burst from her forearm. Blood and a strange, clear fluid dripped from the sharp tip and her flesh was torn apart, but the blood was minimal despite the grisly sight. His brow creased with what might have passed as worry if he was anyone else. Mayuri tilted her head, face blank.

"I need you to focus for me, Mayuri-chan," Kabuto said, his voice soft and soothing, like someone trying to coax an escaped animal back into its cage. "Try to concentrate on reversing the effects. Pull your bones back in and put them back where they belong. Can you do that for me?"

She didn't respond, her gaze flickering back down towards Emi. Her eyes fell upon the exposed bones of the woman's chest again. They were bent at awkward angles, pulled through her flesh and leaving behind ugly gashes. She thought back to her mother and the way her spine had jutted from her severed neck and her staring eyes and wet cheeks. At least Emi's eyes were closed.

"She's dead," Mayuri mumbled. "—so putting the bones back where they belong won't do any good, will it?"

"Not her bones, Mayuri-chan. Try to put your own bones back where they belong. Then I can heal you up and you'll be as good as new, alright?"

"But…. But she's dead. Shouldn't I be, too?" She reached out and brushed a hand over the exposed bone of Emi's ribs, jerking back as she sliced a finger on a jagged edge. She watched, transfixed, as blood welled up and began to drip down her hand, disappearing into the puddle around her. Then, she touched her own chest, fingers running curiously over the twisting bones. "Aren't I already dead?"

"No, you're not. This is the gift that Orochimaru-sama has given to you," Kabuto told her, his voice just as reverent as the other times he had told her about Orochimaru. She wondered if he actually believed that, or if he just wanted her to think he did. Maybe he thought she looked up to him.

She looked down at her finger, watched the blood as it continued to drip. Something in her stomach twisted, and she was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was sitting in a puddle of someone else's blood. Someone that she had just killed.

She turned towards Kabuto, tears spilling over at last as she looked at him with enormous, horror filled eyes. Her breathing began to pick up, rendering her almost speechless. Still, she managed to gasp out a choked, "Kabuto. I killed her. I killed her!"

And suddenly, she was cradled against his chest, too busy trying to keep herself from suffocating to push him away. She let him stroke her hair and rub her back as she sobbed, her bloody fingers clutching at the fabric of his shirt. She heard his sharp intake of breath as she shifted and her exposed bones cut into him. She froze, trembling, all too aware of the blood on her clothes and the way it was staining his, and of each sharp jut of her bones.

"If you don't want to hurt anyone, you have to take care of those bones first, Mayuri-chan," he told her, his voice gentle and relaxed. If she hadn't been the one causing him the pain, she never would have been able to tell that he was hurt.

Mayuri squeezed her eyes shut. Kabuto was right, as much as she hated it. If she couldn't control this then she would just keep hurting people. So carefully, agonizingly, she forced herself to focus on the horrible feeling of her misplaced bones.

A strange yet familiar surge of power went through her, like something crawling beneath her skin and settling into her bones and nerve endings. She was suddenly hyper-aware of the position of each bone and where they needed to be instead, the realization strangely instinctual. Her hands trembled and she shuddered at the pain of pulling bones back into position. It was close to agony, but certainly not the worst thing she had experienced recently.

She wasn't sure if there was anything that was going to ever hold a candle to the horror of having her bones repeatedly broken and left untreated.

So she clenched her jaw and did her best not to cry out as she willed her bones to shift back to where they belonged. Kabuto watched the process with an expression of polite disinterest, though his eyes were narrowed and sharp. By the time all her bones were back in place, Mayuri was covered in sweat and breathing hard. Her limbs were trembling with exhaustion and she felt like she was about to pass out. Kabuto smiled at her, not seeming at all bothered by the shallow cuts that covered his torso and arm.

"You did very good," he said kindly as he stood, gathering her up in his arms. Mayuri briefly considered wriggling out of his grip and demanding he let her walk on her own, but the waves of exhaustion rolling over her were enough to still her tongue. She allowed herself to be carried, wondering the whole time at how small and lightweight this body apparently was. It was strange to think that some preteen could haul her around like it was nothing, considering she was used to it being the other way around.

As he carried her from the room, she realized that she wouldn't be able to see Emi's body. She wasn't sure if she should feel relief or guilt or something else entirely about that fact. Mostly, she just felt tired and empty. It felt like something hollow and dark was resting heavily behind her breastbone, just waiting for the right moment to escape from her chest and swallow her whole.

"Where are you taking me?" she whispered, her eyes going in and out of focus as they passed through the hallways. It was easy to zone out when the scenery was all the same, only interrupted by the flickering shadows of passing torches. She fought the urge to allow herself to drift off into an exhaustion-fueled sleep.

"I'm going to take you to the bathroom so you can wash yourself off. I'll heal you, and then I'll take you to see your sister after you rest for a little bit."

Mayuri hummed and nodded, cheek rubbing uncomfortably against the rough material of his shirt. The sensation was oddly grounding, keeping her awake and checked in to the situation. She closed her eyes and focused on the buzzing sensation beneath her skin and the strange awareness of the location of all her bones. It was uncomfortable and made her feel like her skin wasn't enough to keep her together anymore, like her spine was too big for her body and would burst from between her shoulder blades any second.

She shuddered and took a deep breath. There were tears running down her cheeks that she couldn't seem to stop. Her fingers curled and uncurled, bunching up the sticky material of her medical gown. She could feel the blood beneath her fingernails and the way it cooled against her skin and clumped her hair into one big, sticky knot. A shower sounded like the best thing in the world. She couldn't wait to scrub her skin so raw that she'd bleed and hoped that she would never have to feel someone else's blood was clinging to her ever again. She would be happy with her own blood, if that was what it came down to.

She didn't want Hiroko to see her like this.

By the time they reached the tub, Kabuto's clothes were wet with tears as well as blood. He placed her on the edge of the tub and turned the water on, testing the temperature and washing his hands of the gore that covered them in the process. Mayuri watched the water turn pink and didn't move as he lowered her into the tub, still fully clothed. Red stained the empty white space, swirling around her before disappearing down the drain.

"I can bathe myself," she muttered, batting away his hand as he went to comb his fingers through her hair. She was too tired to put up more of a fight. She could feel Kabuto's eyes on her as she sluggishly went through the motions, tugging off her shredded top and leaning forward to let the lukewarm water run over her head. Her eyes stung as diluted blood dripped into them.

Over the rush of the water she heard Kabuto as he stood and grabbed her discarded clothing. "I'll grab you something else to wear. I don't think these are worth saving."

Mayuri didn't even look at him. She didn't hear his footsteps as he left, but the creak of the door closing was audible over the rush of the water as it slowly filled the tub. She sat, silent and still, until she was sure he was gone. Then, she took a deep breath, slipped under the rising water, and screamed where she was sure she wouldn't be heard. She thrashed, hands and head slamming against the sides of the tub, staying under until there was no air left in her lungs and white spots danced behind her closed eyelids. Her hair swirled around her body, weighing her down and tangling around her arms like hands trying to hold her under.

She surfaced, took a few shallow, shuddering breaths, and then repeated the process. She ducked under, over and over again, until she was too dizzy to think straight and her already sore throat too raw to make a single sound. By the time Kabuto returned, she was floating face-up in the water, hair like a dark halo around her head and water spilling over the sides of the tub. He silently turned the faucet off and stood above her, his face an unreadable mask.

Mayuri didn't acknowledge him with even a flicker of her gaze. She didn't tear her glazed eyes away from the steam that floated above her, imagining she was back in the compound and her granny and mama would call for her to come home any moment. At the same time, she was also chasing memories of sisters and a brother screeching with laughter, of a mom who would pretend to scold them for climbing into a mountain stream but then whisper to her babies to try and pull their older sister under the frigid water despite her loud protests. She closed her eyes, ignoring Kabuto's empty stare as her breaths escaped in the pathetic little hiccups that always happened after crying.

Her mouth moved, lips wrapping around words but unable to form the sounds with her battered vocal cords. Covering her face with her trembling hands, shoulders hunched and body sinking beneath the pink-tinted water, she repeated the soundless words, over and over again, even as water lapped at her nose and filled her mouth.

Without a word, Kabuto scooped her dripping form out of the water and wrapped her in a towel. His hands glanced over her arm, glowing green and feeling faintly warm. In their wake was nothing but smooth skin without so much as a scar to show where bones had torn through the flesh. When his hands moved carefully across her throat, resting there for a long moment and his brow creasing in concentration as he focused on healing the damage that had been wrought, she suddenly found herself with a voice.

"I miss them, I miss them, I miss them so goddamn much," she whimpered. It was the only coherent thought she seemed to be able to form, her mind a cacophony of scrambled memories and a yawning chasm of overwhelming loss.

"Sshhh, Mayuri-chan," Kabuto soothed, hands glancing across her temple and filling her head with a fuzzy warmth. "Sleep now."

With a final sigh, familiar names falling from her lips, Mayuri gave into the exhaustion and willingly gave herself up to the darkness.


Hiroko opened her eyes to the sight of her sister floating in deep green liquid in the tank across from her own. She appeared to be resting peacefully, eyes closed and face slack. Hiroko watched her hair as it moved in a dark cloud around her head, feeling her own hair brush her back in tandem. A single bubble escaped her mouth as she smiled blearily at the sight of Mayuri, whole and alive.

Briefly, she wondered if maybe everything had been just a dream. Maybe her sister had never died and they weren't in some alternate universe where anime characters came to life. Wouldn't that be nice? She twitched, feeling the heaviness that clung to her limbs. She didn't feel any pain, but the burning in her lungs and the liquid surrounding her wasn't pleasant. It felt too far too hot, burning against her skin. She pushed back, like the heat that burned inside of her was trying to play catch up with her surroundings. It felt...uncomfortable.

That meant that this couldn't be a dream.

The liquid of her own tank was nearly painful in its heat, almost enough to keep her awake and aware of the discomfort. Her eyes darted around what she could see of the room, searching for Orochimaru or Kabuto or any sign of any guards. She couldn't see anyone, but that didn't really mean anything, considering her limited range of vision. The power thrummed under her skin, rushing through her veins and filling her chest. Briefly, she considered trying once again to freeze her tank and break the glass—

But no. It would be so much easier to just close her eyes and allow herself to drift off again. It was so much nicer to lose herself in the quiet of her own head. She was less likely to lose her mind that way.


Kabuto stood between the tanks, sharp eyes moving slowly over the still forms of Orochimaru's latest interests. It was easy to see why they had caught the man's attention, of course. The mixing of clan bloodlines within the Land of Water was unusual, especially amongst the noble clans and those with kekkei genkai. From what he had heard, they were usually too suspicious of one another and too busy guarding their own secrets to bother interacting with each other apart from the occasional battle. So having two children (twins, at that) with parents from two separate clans who were known for their powerful abilities was certain to garner the sannin's attention.

How said sannin had even heard about these girls and their lineage was a mystery, though. He had been spending more time in Water country, watching the land's upheaval and political distress like a play put on for his own personal enjoyment. However, things like bastard or half breed children were considered disgraces to clans that were as ancient and petty as the Kaguya, so usually they would have stayed silent about the presence of any in their clan, seeing it as something to take care of themselves. Well, the clan had certainly taken care of these children, but the mystery still remained as to how Orochimaru had learned about them in the first place.

Kabuto hummed quietly as he moved closer to Hiroko, examining the gauges and information output at the base of the tank. Even though the temperature was being kept at a steady 41 degrees celsius, there was still what appeared to be frost crisscrossing the girl's skin in an intricate spiderweb of patterns. Despite that, she still appeared to be sleeping contentedly.

He made a few new notes in her chart. They would likely have to use chakra repression seals on both of the girls unless specifically training their kekkei genkai. He frowned slightly as he squinted down at the notes other medics had made with tiny, messy writing. He shook his head and sighed, then turned away towards the other sister.

She would likely need chakra repression seals as well, considering what had happened with the medic who had been attending her before. He would have to be careful about leaking any information about the woman's death, seeing as she had been well liked. Orochimaru wouldn't be terribly pleased if one of his newest pet projects was killed by some idiot seeking some sort of misguided revenge against a literal toddler.

He watched the girl twitch in her forced stasis and took note of the way her skin rippled and bulged as the bones beneath it changed. It was a disturbing but undeniably intriguing thing to watch. It was also certain to pose something of a challenge in the future, seeing as the only two people who were likely to know anything about Shikotsumyaku, the girls' mother and grandmother, had both been killed. The other Kaguyas were too consumed by their fear of the "curse" to be of any help. It would be easier to find a Yuki clan member to hone Hiroko's abilities, but talking them into coming to Otogakure might pose a challenge. Although, with the political atmosphere in Kiri, it might actually be easier by the time they needed someone. He had heard the rumors about the general opinions and unrest that had begun to stir in Water country in recent years. Most of the Yuki clan had already fled their homes and gone into hiding, and he wouldn't be surprised if they began to be picked off one-by-one very soon. Clans with kekkei genkai might jump at the chance to leave their homeland in a year or two.

That was a problem for later, though, since it would be dangerous to force the children to begin extensive work with their kekkei genkai while their chakra coils were still in the process of developing. Orochimaru wouldn't want to break his new play things so soon after getting them, after all.

Kabuto stood between the tanks, the glowing lights casting eerie ripples across his features as he scanned over both of the girls' files. He made notes of where they needed to be updated already and what he would need to copy over into the information they had gathered on the Kaguya clan's medical history and general information from the girls' mother. The data would prove invaluable, he was certain. The woman had had more knowledge of clan specific medical ninjutsu and the inner workings of her clan's abilities than the average Kiri-based clan member. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that her mother had become ill early in life, but he hadn't exactly had time to ask before her death.

He sighed. It was a shame she had decided to act so quickly. He had hoped that he would have been able to glean more information from her before her death, but it was in the past now. There was nothing to be done for the dead. At least, not yet.

Making a final note to himself to consult with the village's seal master about which design would be best for the Kaguya twins, he left without a backwards glance.