Burdened Slave
Chapter 15
"Three days. Three fucking days," Yū growled as she stomped down Konoha's streets. The people around her looked disapprovingly at her.
"Frugality with some words can go a long way, Yamanaka-san," Haru said as he calmly walked at her side, smiling at the people around him. All the elderly he passed beamed and waved at him, while the younger adults gave a small bow towards him. Dan walked a bit behind him, like he was trying to hide behind Haru but failing.
"I don't need a walking dictionary telling me what to do!" she snapped.
"I don't understand," Haru said.
"Just zip it," she said, missing his small smile because she wasn't looking at him.
They had been trying to find Yuhi Kurenai for the past three days. They had three more days left to finish the mission.
After trying to look all over the village for their target, Yū just made Dan sneak into the Archive Library to get Yuhi Kurenai's file. Dan came back empty handed saying that half of the Library was gone and the other half didn't have any files on Yuhi Kurenai.
She sent him back that same day to get files on Ebisu. He came back empty handed saying that there were no files on Ebisu.
After that, Yū just decided to return to camp for that day.
The day after, Yū marched them up to the main headquarters of Torture and Interrogation. She told them to wait outside while she spoke with someone she called Ibiki. A little while after she entered, the two boys watched as she was thrown out of the top level window. She barely managed to stop from hitting the ground face first. She did stumble on her feet as she landed, though.
After cursing up at a frightful man standing in the shadows of the room she had been thrown from, she decided to go find Inoichi-sama.
They couldn't find Yamanaka Inoichi anywhere. So she made them go to the Nara clan to find Shikaku.
They couldn't find Nara Shikaku either.
For a while that day, Yū just stood around while in thought. Then she had gotten the sudden idea to: let's go find Orochi-tan!
She led them to one of Orochimaru's labs, trying to contain, but failing, a really fierce blush as Dan giggled behind her.
They couldn't find Orochimaru.
That led to the current day. Yū decided to just walk around while thinking. That was when she spotted the Hyuga Clan head's wife walking with her kid. She ran up to the woman and asked if she knew Yuhi Kurenai.
When the older woman nodded with a smile, Yū asked if the Hyuga woman could look for her.
With an 'of course, Yū-chan', the woman had activated her Byakugan. She then delivered the devastating news to Yū that Yuhi Kurenai wasn't in the village. Yū stomped off after a clipped word of thanks to the woman, which seemed to bring motherly worry to said woman.
"I can't believe it," Yū said with a hint of dejection in her voice. "I made us fail our mission,"
"Why do you say that?" Haru asked.
"That trap I made for that eyebrow fuckface probably tipped her off," Yū explained gloomily. "She's probably long gone by now,"
"Why did you not ask Hyuga-san to help with tracking her?" Haru asked in a mildly curious tone.
"Don't be stupid. She was spending time with Hinata. Only a total weirdo would ask her to find someone for them," she snapped.
"My mistake," Haru said in a solemn tone. "Though, might you know any Inuzuka?"
Yū froze in her tracks and turned her head robotically towards him. Her eyes were narrowed in thin slits as she looked at him.
"Why do you want to know?" she asked suspiciously.
"If you did, we could ask for their tracking expertise," he replied.
She quickly turned away from him and started leading them towards the main village exit.
"Forget it," she said. "We can do this by ourselves."
She cagily walked before pausing and tilting her ears towards a couple of people talking.
"Did you hear," one of them whispered to the other. "The Snake Sannin ran away,"
The other nodded and whispered back. "Yeah, I heard he kidnapped kids and did horrible experiments on them. He'd cut them up and—"
"Oi!" Yū roared and pointed at the two. "There's no way Orochi-tan could do that!"
The two people looked started, before quickly walking away.
"Tch," Yū said and started walking again. "Spreading stupid rumors."
But on their way to the village gates, they heard even more whispers and she had to keep herself from exploding or throwing kunais around.
"He got away," the whispers said.
"Just send your kids to the academy quickly. Hokage-sama will protect them."
"Did you hear the news?"
"Don't worry about it. The academy has people to breastfeed them. Just send them there. Hokage-sama is so wise. He'll protect the rest of us."
"Our kids aren't safe even when they're next to us. Put them in that new Academy program. They'll be safe living there."
"I'm pregnant,"
"Don't worry. The academy has a place for you until you give birth."
"I don't think I can leave my newborn behind, but my baby won't be safe with me either. I don't think I can live feeling like this."
"I'm pregnant too. They say it's twins. The academy will make sure they grow up strong. They won't ever have to be cut up. They won't ever be weak like us. You should be honoured, sis."
"What about my husband?"
"Isn't he training to be an Elite Konoha Officer?"
"Hey, did you hear about—"
Yū slapped her hands onto her ears and screamed loudly. The people around her were scared off, but she still sped up to a quick sprint.
The gates quickly entered her sight, but something else did too. Or rather, someone very familiar. Yū paused as she spotted the back of lithe kunoichi not much older than herself. The kunoichi's short violet-coloured hair rustled in the breeze.
Yū grinned and ran. She jumped to tackle the kunoichi from behind, but unlike all the other times, the kunoichi didn't do anything, which left Yū awkwardly sprawled on top of the kunoichi she just felled.
Yū leaned forward and tipped the kunochi's head to the side so she could stare at the pupil-less brown eyes she was very familiar with.
"Hey, Anko, your face is gonna bruise badly tomorrow," Yū snarked. "Hey, why haven't you shown me this cool tattoo before? I want one."
Anko didn't move. She just blankly stared into space.
Yū started tapping a knuckle on Anki's exposed forehead. "Are you brain dead or something?"
As she tapped a third time, Yū was jolted as foreign thoughts entered her mind.
He didn't even come back to take me with him. Why didn't he come back? Why didn't he take me with him? Why? Why?
The Previous Night
"Why didn't you take the backup with you," Shikaku suddenly blasted his voice into Fugaku's mind with the help of Inoichi.
"I've decided on a different plan," Fugkau replied through the mental link Inoichi created.
Fugaku was sitting in a tree under the dark cloudy sky. Waiting. He glanced to the side at Shisui.
"I don't need people getting in the way of a dangerous jutsu," Fugaku said after the pause.
"Why do I get the feeling you're keeping us in the dark," Shikaku replied, with a mental sigh.
"Uchiha Clan Secret," Fugaku stated.
"Right. Of course it is," Shikaku sarcastically shot back.
Just then, Inoichi decided to pipe up. "Why don't we just contact Sandaime-sama? He's nearby?"
"Shikaku was the one who told me that the old man won't have the heart for it. If Orochimaru gets to me, it means Shikaku is right. If he doesn't, it means I don't have to do anything except fire you for getting too lazy."
"I hope I'm wrong then," Shikaku replied wryly.
An explosion was heard in the distance. A few minutes of silence passed as they readied themselves. Their muscles tightened. They both activated their Mangekyou sharingan. Fugaku closed the mental connection.
"He's here," Shisui whispered, making Fugaku glare at the boy for a quick moment.
Orochimaru's pale form walked through the low brush. A dark smile on his face. He allowed his head to turn to where he heard the whisper and a pair of red eyes caught his sight.
His smile turned into a manic grin as the world around dissolved into complete darkness. A dark chuckle escaped him.
"So many hidden abilities," Orochimaru said gleefully. "An unbreakable illusion. If only I was actually here to experience it."
The snake sannin suddenly made an abrupt exit.
Fugaku's eyes connected with Orochimaru and he captured the Snake Sannin in his Tsukuyomi. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
He grabbed a startled Shisui by his hair, enveloping himself and the boy in a dark red construct as he pulled himself and the boy as far away as possible.
The moment he did, the area Orochimaru stood in flashed with a great white light and a dome of bright energy exploded outwards.
Fear entered Fugaku's heart as he knew what it was.
Dohatsuten.
But just as he thought it would reach him and go further, it seemed to reach its maximum size. This baffled Fugaku as he floated in the air inside Susanoo. Suddenly a great pillar of smoke erupted and a gigantic snake appeared. Standing on top was Orochimaru, avoiding the gaze of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Beautiful was it not," the Snake Sannin chuckled. "Please, let us skip the pleasantries. I greatly respect you Fugaku. I adore what you have done with this village and the progress you have allowed me to make. However, I am running out of time before Sarutobi-sensei catches up,"
Orochimaru paused theatrically to give a manic grin.
"I assure I have also modified the Dohatsuten to have a far larger radius than ever imaginable," the Sannin pointed towards the two inside Susanoo. "Give me Shunshin no Shisui and I shall leave Konoha in peace."
"Very well," Fugaku said tonelessly. "Catch,"
Fugaku, still holding Shisui by his hair, suddenly tossed him out of his Susanoo and towards Orochimaru. This action surprised the Snake Sannin, however, it seemed too late for him. Shisui unleashed his prepared technique causing Orochimaru to freeze. His snake summon suddenly burst into smoke.
Blind in one eye and not having enough stamina to do much, he continued the trajectory Fugaku had thrown him in, then gravity brought him downwards. He crashed through the trees and into the forest ground below.
Fugaku quickly lowered Susanoo and dispelled the summoned construct. He landed next to Orochimaru's body, however, it quickly became apparent that it was just a husk. Shedded just like a snake would its skin.
He brought his hands together into a sign just as a blade pierced his back and came out of his stomach.
Orochimaru whispered into Fugaku's ears. "To think that the Sharingan has such an ability, even now its effects are hard to resist."
"Fuuin!" Fugaku grunted and pushed chakra outwards.
Orochimaru's eyes widened, but that was all he could do as the Snake Sannin suddenly found himself suddenly occupying a seal between Fugaku's shoulder blades.
The disappearance of Orochimaru's sword from his gut caused him to vomit blood.
Just then, Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared next to him in battle robes.
"Follow any tracks!" Hiruzen shouted the order to the Anbu around him. He quickly put a hand on Fugaku's back.
"Hn." Fugaku intoned in amusement. "Get Shisui a medic. I'll be fine."
Sarutobi then had to prevent Fugaku from crashing into the ground as the man lost consciousness.
Fugaku appeared inside inky darkness. Above him, large, yellow, serpentine eyes looked at him.
"To think that you were so desperate to use this antiquated prototype," Orochimaru's voice menacingly echoed around him. "My very own jinchuuriki. I'm honoured."
"What have you done to yourself?" Fugaku asked.
"Why, I have evolved, of course. To gain all knowledge in this world. To know all Jutsu. To never know death."
"Hn." Fugaku was unimpressed. "Why were you able to resist?"
A dark chuckle erupted and the serpentine eyes drew closer. For a second, Fugaku could only feel fear as he realised he was unable to judge the distance accurately inside this seal. The serpentine eyes appeared large at a glance, but as they drew closer, he came to realise that their size were unimaginable. Something large seemed to slither around him.
Orochimaru's eyes stopped some distance away from his first ever jailor.
"Oh, my. You want to know why that mind control trick isn't working?" Orochimaru asked rhetorically. "To reach my level, you need to have touched your very soul. To know yourself fully. Do you know yourself Fugaku?"
Orochimaru drew closer to Fugaku.
"Foolish child. You should have not been so hasty to use this seal. Between every thought you have I will be there. I will be whispering. The question is, can you resist me? Is your will stronger than mine?"
