Two week delay… sorry folks. I started working and it's been eating into my time. But I predict one, maybe two more chapters plus the epilogue, which I've all ready started. So the end is in sight and it seems to be wrapping up nicely.
CHAPTER 8
Night had started to fall and the rain was pounding in earnest on the windows as Shikamaru and his chosen team finally ironed out a plan. Sasuke had briefed the room with a few dry comments from Kakashi until their weeks of on and off surveillance began to paint a picture.
They had counted at least fifteen different guards, none of them wearing village identification. Most had been overweight and bored. Sasuke made a sour face when he told them that. From what Kakashi and he could tell they were more like gatekeepers then guards. Usually there were three at each entrance on rotating shifts and allowed wagons pulled by oxen to unload supplies and turned passing visitors away. But sometimes, as Kakashi had pointed out, "they disappeared when the hookers arrived."
With his sharingan Sasuke had managed to catch a name one of the guards had scribbled on a sheet when they had been accepting an order: The Fire Country Experimental Chakra and Juutsu Research Facility.
When he heard the name a little flag went up at the back of Shikamaru's mind. He frowned but didn't have time to ponder it as Sasuke continued. He made a note of it though.
"Occasionally we would see real shinobi. We counted ten in total, all wearing visible Konoha hitae. However," a tense look crossed his face, "all of them disabled in some way. Three were missing hands or arms, several were missing an eye or both."
"What, were they missing-nin?" Kiba asked.
"No," Sasuke said. "We checked their records, all of them are legitimate Konoha ninja who are on the disabled lists."
"What would they be doing there then?" Kiba said more to himself then a question.
"Sometimes ninja who still want active duty are assigned to low-grade action positions," Shikamaru answered anyway. He thought hard, trying to remember any requests for such jobs they had gotten recently. "Usually guarding or adding numbers to parties. But obviously we have too few jobs and too many men. They tend to hire themselves out to less then honourable groups."
It was a fear all ninja had. Conditioned from their childhood to the ways of combat many couldn't see a life beyond their current ones. Their bodies and strength were a way of life. A few who chose teaching or medical professions rested a bit easier, and the small number of elite like Shikamaru took comfort in their other talents. But many ninja preferred death to a disabling injury and the sight of a one armed person with hitae often drew looks of pity and uneasiness.
Sasuke nodded. He clearly hated to address a room and being interrupted was beginning to tell on his patience. "We hadn't infiltrated the base yet but the manpower should be a piece of cake for Naruto. The unknown factor is of course the kids. Naruto will probably sacrifice a lot for them."
The unknown factor was Naruto himself, Shikamaru couldn't help but think sourly. At this point Shikamaru didn't know which was more important to Naruto: Gaara or the kids' safety.
"So what's the plan?" Chouji asked looking at Shikamaru. Everyone turned from Sasuke to him now, clearly waiting for him to answer. Shikamaru scowled for a moment. Just once he wanted them to look to someone else.
"Main objectives, the safety of the genin and the reputation of one Uzumaki Naruto," he smiled bitterly as he said the name. He closed his eyes and let the words flow out of him. "Point men are Sasuke and Kakashi. You will handle the guards with as little damage as you can. These guards are our own men, whether or not they are on Konoha assignments. Shino, Hinata and Kiba will be the first to enter. Hinata, your objective is the genin, Kiba, you go for Naruto and Shino, Gaara. Ino, Chouji, Sakura to follow and secure an escape route."
"And you?" Ino asked.
"I'll be with Kiba," he scowled. "I need a few words with Naruto."
…………………………………………………………………………………
Hanako shifted in her sleep, making the shackles rub until finally she pinched the skin on her wrist and opened her eyes with a start. She blinked and reached to rub her face but was brought up short by the chains. Musad, linked to her, moved, his eyes starting to flutter as he woke. Kaida was all ready awake, scowling, her face a pinched white in the dim room. Disoriented, Hanako looked to whatever it was Kaida was staring so intently at.
The three of them were chained together and locked in a somewhat rusty and decrepit looking iron cell. The cell itself wasn't that big but the room beyond it was huge, more like a stadium then a jail. It was fairly dark too, the only visibility coming from several sterile lights that lined the lower walls. The edge of their cell was a couple of meters away from a sheer drop, and beyond the sheer drop was an empty space. Like two little doll figurines, Hanako saw one red head and one blonde trapped in two bubbles of shimmering lightning.
"What are they doing?" Musad was awake. Kaida scowled deeper.
"Well, I'm not sure it's them we have to wonder about," she said sourly. "Wait, the bald man'll be back soon."
And as she said it, sure enough a balding, pigeon toed man shuffled into the empty display area. There must have been a door under their feet because several people followed him, more then would be possible if they had just been waiting out of view.
Chained in a line with Musad in the middle, it was hard for them to move without banging each other painfully with the heavy chains but they managed to shuffle as close to the iron bars as possible.
The people were all dressed in white coats and ranged from all ages, races and genders. A thick, tan skinned, black haired man and a short, squat pale woman were carrying objects that they placed in the middle of two complicated looking seals painted on the ground.
"Why the hell do they have teapots?" Kaida asked.
"What?" Hanako asked and squinted. Sure enough, the man and the woman had placed two, innocent looking teapots. They were foreign designed with a handle and a spout, not like the traditional clay ones most people used in Konoha. One was pink with little daisy chains decorating it and the other was a pale blue with two bright suns painted on each side.
Kaida and Hanako frowned at each other over Musad's head but he just sighed and settled down to wait.
Gaara couldn't help but feel incredibly resigned. It seemed like every step he took a seal was waiting for him. He wished that, just for once, someone wasn't trying to meddle in his life so much and that, just for once, he could be normal.
Naruto couldn't help but feel incredibly angry. He should have waited for Shikamaru, as his often late and never loud enough common sense told him. He wasn't so much worried for himself but he had gotten three new genin, so fresh out of the Academy their ears were still wet, captured and in danger. It was like someone out there was waiting for him to pop up and then, like a Whack-A-Mole, smack him down again.
"Subject, Uzumaki Naruto," the man was balding, badly, and was short. He stooped over and shuffled from place to place, directing the other white clad people with a high pitched, whining voice. It was hard to see definite images through the shifting yellow light that entrapped them but the high pitched voice was more then enough to use to identify the man. He had been here earlier, when they had first regained consciousness.
"I'm not a subject," Naruto retorted but the man barely seemed to hear him.
"Subject Gaara," Naruto glanced over and Gaara just remained silent. "They seem to be in good health."
"After seeing the improvement of a varied diet we attempted to diversity the nutrients," a woman's voice answered him. "Subject Gaara was fed a few hours ago, but we don't know when Subject Uzumaki last ate."
The balding man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Naruto refused to grace him with any words. "Perhaps we should open his stomach and examine the contents before proceeding with him."
"What?" Naruto all but yelled. "No one's going to be opening me up! Nyah uh."
"I thought we were to do the procedure at the same time," a thin voiced man piped up. "Separating them would create an imbalance in the seals. We can't afford to hire another ninja to compensate."
"And delaying it would be inadvisable," the woman added.
"You're right, of course," the man said but sounded more conceded then resigned. "But how can we calculate the risks of the strain on Subject Naruto's body? Without the proper nutrients how can we be sure of the outcome?"
And just like that Naruto knew that this wasn't a deciding period, it was a test for the other people, the students, and he and Gaara, the subjects, had no say and nothing was going to change the mind of the balding man of whatever was going to happen in this room.
The students began to argue amoung themselves.
"We could inject the nutrients, it would only take a few hours for them to register in his system."
"Then Subject G's system would be out of sync."
"What about injecting them both?"
"That could work, I suppose."
"But how are we going to get close to both of them, they're conscious. We could be attacked."
"Doesn't one of the guards have a juutsu or something to disable people?"
"Juutsu and chakra aren't all powerful. After all this time you of all people should know that."
The group descended into a squabble and Naruto and Gaara exchanged looks through the shimmering walls. Finally, the balding man spoke and quieted them all.
"We are all forgetting. Subject Uzumaki has had nearly a full month of free range exercise. His body is well up to the task of withstanding. Subject Gaara on the other hand, as we observed, expresses less physical fitness as a result of the defensive versus offensive nature of the demon inside of him. We had the unexpected bonus of seeing Subject Gaara's physical limits the other day and we know well that he had a sixty percent chance of complete recovery. Subject Uzumaki therefore has a greater chance then Subject Gaara when they are both equal in nutritional strength and when they are unequal their chances are thus the same."
Naruto looked at him bewildered but Gaara looked at the doctor with narrowed eyes, obviously understanding. It seemed the other students did as well and whispered amoung themselves.
"Did you catch that?" Kaida turned to Hanako and the other girl shrugged helplessly. The high-pitched voice of the doctor made words echo easily back to them.
"It means that Naruto is stronger," Musad said in his halting way and both girls looked at him in surprise. He glared back. "What? I am not stupid. You think too hard about sentences, not enough about words. Naruto is stronger, Gaara is weaker. So when Gaara has better nutritional and Naruto worse, they are equal. It is like a weight scale," he shrugged then paused. "Nutritional is what?"
"I think it means how much food they have gotten," Hanako said. "And what was that about a demon?"
"I don't know," Blondie accidentally yanked Musad as she leaned closer to the bars. "Shut up and maybe they'll say something."
Having made the final decision, the white coated students started to scurry away. Some left the way they had come, some busied themselves by carefully looking over the painted seals and the rest gossiped quietly over their clipboards and notebooks. The only one to pay attention to Naruto and Gaara was the balding man.
Naruto clenched his fists as the man smiled. "Just a few more minutes boys then we'll have you fixed up."
"What the hell do you mean?" Naruto could never keep himself quiet for long. "Fixed up? I like myself plenty the way it is now, no cutting into my stomach or whatever the hell you wackos are doing."
The man looked surprised then delighted. "Oh! I had forgotten that you could speak like us. I knew you did, of course. During our observations you two communicated quite competently."
Naruto shot another glance at Gaara who shrugged. "Look, buddy, I don't know what you are babbling on about but I suggest you let us go. Kidnapping shinobi is a serious offense in our villages."
"Oh, how delightful!" the man clapped his hands. "I knew you knew where you lived, after we released you there was no hesitation when you returned to your origin place. Subject Gaara confused us a little, we were certain that he would return to his home town as well but it seems you two formed a connection. We were worried when those two other Konoha ninja interfered with our tracking but it has all worked out in the end, of course."
The condescending tone in the man's voice was starting to set Naruto's nerves on edge.
"Why are we here?" Gaara spoke this time, quietly.
"Oh, don't you worry about that," the man beamed at them like he would a child. "Just relax and we will have those troublesome nasties out of you soon enough."
"Nasties?" Naruto shouted and went as close to the wall as he dared. "I'll have you know I work well enough with kyuubi and I'd like it if people would stop fucking with that!"
Perhaps it was the harsh language or the name of the issue, but the balding man lost some of the false delight.
"That is not something to joke around with, young man," he wagged a finger but his body was strung with more anger then before. "This disease is a major problem. It can affect your sanity and shorten your life. We are only trying to do what is best for you."
"Best for us?" Naruto snorted. "I know what's best for me. I may not like the dammed demon but I sure as hell have learned to work with it. Take it away and what did it all mean?" he looked at the man and he took a step back at the intensity of Naruto's eyes. Gaara stared at him as well. "All the stupid looks, isolation, the years spent away from my friends because no one else could stand me? Take away that fix and I have no reason anymore!"
"But-" the man seemed to be a loss for words. "But you'll be normal!"
"I've never been normal," Naruto growled. "And I sure as hell don't want to start now!"
Gaara stared at his hands. Normal. Was he normal? No, no, of course not. A murderer from the cradle with blood filled sand as his only playmate, of course he wasn't normal. He had always wanted to be normal and he had always assumed Naruto was.
He thought to the last few months of his life, in the room with Naruto, out of the room with Naruto and then back in the room by himself. And then he thought of his life before that. It was lonely, yes of course it was lonely, and he could remember points of his life where he had been isolated from even the physical presences of people. Those times didn't compare to that room alone with himself, without Shukaku in his ear, or Naruto there to talk too. Could he live like that? Naruto was sure to leave him at some point, all people did. Shukaku had been with him his whole life, an unpleasant thorn that stabbed not his body but his heart, but at least Shukaku had been there. Could he be alone again?
All his life he had thought that if the demon was gone he would be better, be nicer, be closer to people. But the demon had been gone from his ear for months now and he was weaker, ruder and even more socially inept. Was it the demon holding him back or, he clenched his fists, was it himself?
"It doesn't matter what you want!" the man was red in the face now, his hands shaking in rage. The students quieted around him. "The world wants you to be fixed, to be normal," he spat at the ground. "It is for your own good! You!" he turned and shouted at the nearest woman. She jumped. "Get the rest of the equipment. The sooner we do this the better."
……………………………………………………………
They found two guards unconscious and tucked out of the rain. It was pitch black but all were seasoned fighters and hardly needed the thin collared radios. The two guards slumped out of the rain and inside the stone entrance. Chouji, Ino and Sakura tied them in case they woke up as the rest slipped down the staircase on silent feet.
The halls were dark as well with only a few dull lights spaced far and few between. It didn't hinder them all at, all of them used to using the power of darkness to mask their presence. Shikamaru couldn't help but a rush he hadn't had in a while, the rush of the unexpected. Even though it was a large group they were all well practiced in team maneuvers.
Shino's bugs, Kiba's nose and Hinata's Byakugan relied on no light anyway so they led through the sharp corners of the stone maze. They came across unconscious or dead bodies many times which was starting to make Shikamaru a little nervous. Naruto didn't normally get so severe. At least, he hadn't before he had left. Shikamaru was uncomfortable to admit it but Naruto had changed since coming back. Tsunade had picked up on it but he had been slower to acknowledge it.
As they crossed their second dead body he swallowed hard and wished he had just a minute to sit and think. But this was part of the field he loved to hate; there were no time outs, no long thought out planning sessions. He could only hope he had thought enough beforehand.
As one they all sensed and heard the voices ahead and stopped, plastering themselves against the wall. Shino made a signal for three people, then after a paused, added 'civilians'.
Kakashi stopped to the front of the group, lowering his eye cover as he disappeared around the corner. There wasn't even a shout of surprise before Sasuke had them move forward. Kakashi was propping the last unconscious white clad woman in a sitting position against the wall. Three lit lanterns sat next to them.
It was getting too easy to follow the trail and Shino, Hinata and Kiba were all adamant that all of their targets were in the same direction. Shikamaru was feeling more and more nervous. They came across two more people, these two holding two boxes filled with papers. Kakashi took care of them as well.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Shikamaru whispered, using one of the lanterns. "Gaara."
"What are they?" Hinata knelt next to him and they opened them while the others kept a watchful eye.
"Records," Shikamaru muttered as he quickly skimmed Uzumaki Naruto. "Input, output. Surgeries? Daily observations," Shikamaru paused at that one. "'Subject is drawn close to Subject Gaara. Unsure of repercussions. Implementing plans for free range trial a head of schedule, starting tomorrow? Subject to be released approximately five thousand meters from hidden city West entrance.'" Shikamaru felt a headache coming on. "The- the name of this facility was what again?"
Kakashi and Sasuke exchanged a look. "Fire Country Experimental Chakra and Juutsu Research Facility," Sasuke recited with a frown. "Why?"
But Shikamaru didn't want to answer as suddenly everything connected and it was like the rest of the world fell away as he finally understood.
He had signed many papers in the last few years, most of them after a brief glance over. He remembered this one, finally, and it was giving him a sick feeling. Doctor Tenko, a bowlegged, greasy scalped man had approached the Hokage three years ago with a proposal. Back then Shikamaru had merely been a shadow in the back of the office helping Tsunade and still has mild aspirations of becoming a jounin. He had taken an immediate dislike to the man, in his tone, his dress and the look in his eye. But the proposal was sound and even though he and Tsunade were distrustful of the man they had both though the idea was a good one.
That was the last he had seen of that man though they regularly received information, scrolls and requests for funds over the years, usually delivered by pigeon courier. The last letter they had received was three months ago and it had disturbed him.
They had spoken about a breakthrough with chakra contaminations in the bodies of infected shinobi. The word 'cleansing' had been repeated too many times for Shikamaru's liking but there had been nothing serious to take into consideration and the letter had been filed away. Over a month later Naruto had shown up looking a little worse for wear but there had been too many letters and too many new problems in-between for Shikamaru to make connections.
Now, however, he was beginning to realise just what his signature and indifference meant. He had always known of course that his decisions impacted hundreds of people everyday, from the little things he did like correcting mistakes on missions to the major things like splitting up teams or putting them back together again. But it had never been this personal before. Even assigning dangerous missions to Ino hadn't bothered him as much as this. At least then he could control who she was with and when she came back, alive and well, he always felt a smidge of pride that it had been him that had protected her. But this... Naruto, Gaara, those kids. Who else had been so affected by his inattention?
This took less then a minute for him to realise and he stuffed the papers back into the box. "Sasuke, burn these. We're going to burn this place down."
Now the entire group exchanged looks and Shikamaru scowled. But Sasuke burned the boxes to ashes like Shikamaru had said and the entire group picked up on his sense of urgency as they moved through the halls again.