A/N: I changed Sai's and Shin's ages last chapter after posting, so here's a heads up that now, Sai is four and Shin is five! I made them older than they are in canon because I wanted them to be in ROOT the same time Kakashi is :) Also, I just realised Shin's hair is grey. It's corrected now.
"Guhh!" Kakashi gasps as he is lifted out of the water again, struggling weakly as he heaves for breath through his mask.
"Kakashi!?" Kinoe hisses as he leans over the well, his eyes wide. He notices the snake-woman smiling at him and falters. "Err, hello."
"Hello," she says back in a friendly manner while her captive coughs and wheezes. "Would you like to join us?"
"No thank you," Kinoe replies just as politely, shrinking back from the edge of the well.
"A good tactical decision," Sakumo thinks.
She shrugs before turning back to regard Kakashi. "Well, I'm supposed to drown you a bit more, but Hinoto is gone so..." She drops him and they both immediately back off to either side of the well; she with her tail curled back protectively and he with his hands clasped in a seal, panting.
When she leaves him alone as promised, Kakashi turns to brace one arm against the curved wall and pulls his mask down. Hiding his face, he vomits messily into the water.
The snake-woman makes a face. "Yuck. But still, I like you breathing a lot more."
"Me too," Kakashi replies hoarsely, still shuddering but filled to the brim with sarcasm. She grins in amusement, showing the little fangs in her mouth.
"Here," she says, offering her tail tentatively. "Hold on and rest a while."
"Thanks," Kakashi mutters as he pulls his mask back on, too tired to refuse. He goes limp and lets her hold him gently against the wall, his arms tossed over her scaly tail and his right hand still loosely held in a single-handed seal. Noting his laboured breathing, Kinoe peers at him in worry.
"Shall I get a medic?"
A wet cough and a strained smile is his reply. "I'll be okay."
Just as Sakumo is about to ask Rin to look Kakashi over, the med-nin hops into the well with a grim expression. "They're taking this too lightly. Drowning isn't just a matter of counting down the minutes until unconsciousness." Half-floating, she puts her hands through the well creature's tail until they're somewhere in Kakashi's chest cavity. The way her face darkens makes Sakumo's own breath grow shallow.
"How is his heart?" he asks, remembering the Hyuuga med-nin's warnings.
"Misfiring."
Sakumo bites back his questions as Rin makes several hand seals in quick succession. She puts her hands in Kakashi's chest again, her eyes closed as she regulates the electrical impulses of her teammate's heart. Gradually, the crease between Kakashi's brows smooths and his breathing begins to even. Her hands move lower to the lungs and the corner of her mouth turns down further. "Water in lungs, too," she mutters.
"What's your name?" Kakashi asks, trying to distract the two people (that he can see) staring at him.
"My name?" The woman turns her face towards the star-studded sky above them and takes a moment to think. "You can call me Inoue*."
"'On the well'? Shouldn't it be 'in the well'?" Kakashi deadpans, coughing out water again when Rin does more hand seals and sticks her hands behind his ribs again.
"Oh, you're funny!" Inoue claps her hands with a delighted giggle. "You're right, but Inonaka** doesn't flow as well, does it?"
"I suppose not," Kakashi murmurs.
Giving Kakashi a sad glance, Rin sighs. She floats back up to where Sakumo is waiting and curls up by his side, her brow knitted tightly as she glowers at the ground. "I've done what I can. I'll keep monitoring him to make sure he doesn't suffer from secondary drowning - that is, drowning from damage done to the lungs - but that shouldn't happen anymore."
"Thank goodness you're here," he murmurs gratefully, but she just shakes her head with a small smile.
Inoue swims forward, her head tilted curiously when she notices Kakashi's shivering. "Are you cold? Here, I'll lend you some heat—"
"Um, no, it's quite alright—!"
"I don't mind—!"
There's a splash and a bit of flailing from Kakashi but Inoue succeeds in wrapping her tail further around Kakashi slowly, making sure that he has his arms free this time. The young jounin doesn't look amused as he slumps in her loose coils, immersed in the water up to his chin.
"That's better, isn't it? I'm still quite warm-blooded. You don't have to waste energy trying to keep afloat either. Your flak jacket looks quite heavy..." She seems quite proud of herself and Kakashi gives her a exasperated huff.
"Thanks, I guess." He looks down at the shiny black scales beneath his hands. "You are really warm."
Making a happy sound, she wraps him up in her arms and embraces him tight. Rin growls and Kakashi gives a small gasp, his face flushing. Inoue quickly backs off again, babbling. "And you're really nice! I'm sorry for drowning you! Most people look at me weird but you don't." She trails off, smile fading, as she looks down at her tail.
Kakashi pats her tail awkwardly and Inoue's face lights up in a smile again. "Puppy, do you want to see an underground cave? The wind can get a bit cold out here, but if we're underground it'll be warmer. I'm used to the cold, but you'll get sick."
"Where are you going? In case Hinoto asks." Kinoe is leaning over the edge to look at them again, his hands clutched tight over the edge.
"There's a whole water system underground connected to this well. Technically, we won't be leaving." Inoue smiles slyly, her green eyes almost shining as they reflect the moonlight.
Kinoe still looks hesitant, but when a gust of chilly wind causes Kakashi to sneeze, he nods. "I'll wait here then."
"Why don't you go back? You don't need to wait for me out in the cold. Go catch some sleep," Kakashi suggests, still sniffling.
"I-I can sleep here," Kinoe insists before quickly sitting down beside the well, as if to root himself into the ground lest someone drag him away. His eyes are wide as he hugs his knees to himself. "Goodnight!" Rin smirks at how Kinoe's voice turns a little squeaky towards the end and Sakumo chuckles. It says some very sad things about his life in ROOT, though, that he is so touched at Kakashi's simple concern.
In the well, Kakashi blinks at where Kinoe had been. "Goodnight."
"Alright! Hold your breath and hold onto me," Inoue chirps, turning around to offer her back.
Pink with embarrassment, Kakashi wraps his arms loosely around her neck. "I'm not a kid."
Ignoring his muttering, Inoue shifts in the water. "Deep breath!" she warns cheerfully before they're diving into its depths.
"Come on!" Rin shouts in alarm when they disappear. She grabs Sakumo's hand and jumps, pulling him right through the well's walls and into water.
"But can we breathe—"
He shuts his mouth quickly when the water closes over his head.
Ghosts don't need to breathe, Sakumo learns, even though he still technically can, even underwater. It's just a reflex held over from their life; a habit that he hadn't realised was no longer needed. It feels strange to swim, now that water passes through his body instead of around him, tickling along the insides of his lungs and making him want to cough.
The underground waterways are very dark but there's light at the end of the tunnel, literally. Through the crystal clear water, the distant light catches in Kakashi's silver hair, making every strand glow in the darkness. It reflects off Inoue's scales as well, forming glittering trails that oscillate with the movement of her tail. There's a strange grace to her movements, and Sakumo is reminded of the old legends, of how the Shodaime Mizukage summoned leviathans to his aid.
Orochimaru would have been intrigued by that.
The light brightens, illuminating the rough brick walls curving around them, and she pushes off the ground with her tail to pass through an arched doorway. They burst into a bright, artificial whiteness, just like the lighting of a—
"A lab," Sakumo breathes.
They surface in a glass tank. Rin makes a shocked gurgling sound and Sakumo inhales sharply— a faintly chemical-tinged breath of air that the open-topped tank affords.
From wall to wall, the lab is lined with huge glass columns, in which other half-humans like Inoue are suspended limply in pale green fluid. Yet other smaller containers contain preserved animals and organs, and - Sakumo's gut churns at the sight - even embryos and fetuses, floating in bubbling incubation chambers connected to various pipes and wires.
Inoue glances about, relaxing only when she is sure that they're alone. The barely noticeable gills at the sides of her neck open and close as she whispers to Kakashi. "This is one of Orochimaru's labs. We're out of Konoha already." He nods, his eyes wide with horror as he takes in what has been laid before them.
"Are they alive?" Kakashi whispers, his hitai-ate pushed up and his Sharingan swirling as he stares at the half-sharks, half-seals, half-octupi...
"In a fashion," she murmurs back, her words heavy. Kakashi's arms tighten around her neck and he shivers. "Come, we have a way to go."
After Kakashi takes another breath, they submerge into the water again and take a left turn, moving swiftly away from the light this time. They swim down, down, down, pressure building in their ears as the bricks in the walls strip away to bare, hard rock.
Just when the deepening darkness begins to invite the first stirrings of doubt, blue pinpricks of light begin along the bottom of the tunnel, clustering together until they become solid trails of guiding light. "Chakra lights," Sakumo turns to tell Rin, his voice echoing strangely in his own ears. "They draw a miniscule amount of energy from any living being passing through and convert it into light. Uzushio used to be covered in them, but..."
The lights grow stronger until eventually the waters turn into rocky shallows. They break the surface, scattering water droplets everywhere as they climb ashore. The same blue lights are written in swirls and lines along the smooth, curved dome of the artificial cave, like stylized clouds in a dark sky, or a constellation of stars. The eerie glow refracts in the waters, making lights and shadows dance in rippling patterns, and the small island of sand is coloured a soft blue.
Kakashi sits, gasping, and Inoue flops onto the ground next to him, her arms spread. "Lovely, isn't it?" she says breathlessly, her tail swishing lazily in the water.
"I can't believe Danzou has something like this hidden away," Kakashi says in wonder, his fingers curling into the fine, white sand. The air is stale but breathable, and the only scent is that of sand and freshwater. "What is it used for?"
"A burial ground, actually," Inoue laments, and everyone freezes.
Sakumo looks down at the fine sand beneath his feet again, his impression of this place completely changed in an instant. "For who?" Rin asks, sounding strangled.
The half-snake runs her fingers through the sand, drawing random patterns onto the ground as she lies there.
"Am I going to die?" Kakashi asks flatly.
Sand sprays as she gestures frantically. "Oh no! I'm not going to kill you! I said I wouldn't." She pouts and looks so hurt that Kakashi has to assure her that he's joking. "Orochimaru has me bury the remains of his... experiments sometimes." She pats the ground gently, as if she is comforting a person. Maybe she is. "He has a crematory that he uses, but there are always bones and ashes left over. I don't know what this place was for originally - maybe some kind of ceremonial chamber for the Shimura clan - but Orochimaru says it's okay to bury them here, so..."
The young Hatake looks over the cave, from the still water to the domed ceiling, his gaze dark as it lingers on the smooth expanse of sand. "How many are there here?"
Inoue presses her cheek against the ground, her palm smoothing over the marks she had made. She looks up at him from under thick lashes, her pupils wide slashes of bottomless black.
"More than you'd want to know, puppy."
*井上 where 井 is read as 'i' and 上 is 'ue' but together they are 'inoue'. It's a common Japanese surname.
**井中 doesn't exist, but since 井 is 'i' and 中 is 'naka', going by the same convention, I came up with 'inonaka'. Okay this is just a long explanation for something I essentially made up but yeah...
A/N: I assure you Kakashi is safe ;) See you all in a few weeks! :)