Chapter Five
The Nurturer and the Predator
Kabuto woke warm and happy for the first time in a long time. He blinked and realized that he was with his Kogitsune. He sat up and realized that he had to check things before the day. It was Sunday he would have the whole day with him. He sat up and heard him making whimpering noises and he realized…he was in pain, he had to be in pain.
"Oh, Kogitsune, just a minute, I'm so sorry," he whispered as he slid out of the bed and went to the closet where he'd sat the small fridge. He came back and saw he was awake and watching him. Kogitsune's eyes were red and teary and no wonder, he thought. He changed the saline bag quickly with a new one and put a bag of Stadol with it, and added another bag of antibiotics. He sat down beside him and did the tube feeding for him and was wondering what the hell he had been thinking when he pulled his teeth out. That was so stupid. That was going to make recovery take even longer.
"There, I gave you a pain reliever, okay? Today, it is going to be you and me, sweet Kogitsune. And I'll treat you well, I'll baby you and take care of you, I promise," he said as he ran hands over his head. "I'll set your ankles once it takes effect, okay? I don't want to hurt you, I'm so sorry he hurt you…"
Kabuto got and started considering that he couldn't remember a lot since Thursday morning. He remembered answering the phone. That was the last thing he remembered clearly, then after that it was snatches of rage and other things he was horrified by. He walked down the stairs and stopped at the bottom of them to stare at the sofa.
"Nonō?" he asked, walking over to see his adopted mother sitting there staring at the fox tryptic.
She turned and smiled. "You let him do something terrible, Kabuto, my poor Kabuto. Why did you do that?"
He shook his head. "Nonō, I don't understand, what…how do you know about…"
"Your Kogitsune?" she said and stood slowly. She put a hand against his face gently. "I know, and I hope you make better choices. I healed you. I took care of you after that terrible man hurt you. I never told them what happened, how I found you on the side of the road, bleeding, with that man hurting you…baby, why would you do that to someone else?"
Kabuto's world tilted and he remembered vividly something he had long forgotten.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
The heart pounding in his ears nearly eclipsed the sound of someone chasing him. He was sobbing, and running, and he didn't know what to do.
"You little fucking brat…I'll kill you for this!" he heard behind him.
He had never been so very scared in his entire life. He'd been in his bed asleep when the bad man broke into their house. Papa had said to hide and he did, even when he heard the gun and heard papa fall. Even when mama screamed, he stayed hidden. But then, the bad man found him and he had run through the woods around their house. He caught him, trying to strangle him, and the little boy had kicked him in the between of his legs and ran again.
"I'll kill you for that!" he heard again but he fell, rolling down onto a road now. He panted but he was being strangled again, and he screamed, he didn't know what he was doing but he was hurting him and he couldn't get away. The bad man slammed the boy's head sideways and growled, "I'm the predator, you're the prey, Kogitsune…"
The world exploded behind the little boy's eyes but he saw a woman's face and then everything went so quiet, so very quiet, for so very long.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
"The Predator," he said and looked at Nonō. "The Predator, that's who…he broke into our house…he killed my parents, then he chased me into the woods…and he caught me…" he whispered.
"Yes, I didn't tell you for so long because I didn't want you to remember him hurting you like that, but I should have told you sooner."
The Predator has been apprehended today. He was caught assaulting a young boy after killing his parents. He has been sentenced to solitary confinement without bail to face multiple charges of child molestation and aggravated sexual assault, first degree murder, second degree manslaughter, unlawful imprisonment… We are happy to report that the nightmare surrounding the small rural town of Konohagura has ended. The Predator was executed today, convicted easily of his crimes. Seven families may now rest in peace knowing that that man that murdered them has been punished… The Predator left only one survivor, his last victim who has had his identity hidden to protect him… The Predator…The Predator…
Kabuto looked at Nonō. "How could you not tell me? You knew! You knew!" he screamed at her. She smiled softly. "I hoped you never remembered. He's here, inside you, Kabuto. Fight him, for me."
There was a knock at the door and he looked over at it. He headed up and opened it, seeing that it was Haku from next door. The petite boy was very pretty, Kabuto thought. More than once he'd considered asking him out, but he hadn't been sure.
"Haku-san, what is it?" he said with a smile.
"Oh, I brought you this, Kimimaro saw in the paper that your mother, well your adopted mother, passed Thursday morning. He was worried, he said he heard something last night…" Haku said looking around furtively in the place behind him.
Haku handed him a box of cookies that he and Kimimaro had made. Haku felt really awkward now after Kimimaro had called the cops on him now. No wonder he had come in so late Thursday night.
"Oh, why thanks," he said with a soft smile. "She was a wonderful person. She saved me, you know. More than once. I guess it hit me last night, you don't want to come in because the place is a mess. I think I broke a few things cursing cruel fate."
"I understand," Haku said and bowed as he left to return to his place.
Kabuto looked at the box of cookies and then to the living room. No one was in there. He looked up the stairs. No, he had to take care of Kogitsune now. He'd let the Predator back into his life, and now he had to fix it. He would fix it, he would prove that he could take care of his Kogitsune, unlike the way the Predator treated him. No, he would take care of his little fox. He would love him with all his heart.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Kakashi looked at the officer. "Okay…bring him in."
Iruka came in leading a young man with short black hair and dark eyes. "I don't understand, what do you mean, I'm a suspect in what?"
"Sit down, son," Kakashi said as Iruka sat the boy down in front of Kakashi's desk. He stood back against the door and watched.
"Sai, right?" Kakashi asked with a smile.
"Yeah, S-Sai. I…the officer came and got me out of class, what is happening?" he asked nervously, looking between Kakashi and Iruka.
Kakashi arched a brow and looked at Iruka. Something told him that this boy was not involved. "One of your professors, a substitute, expressed concern after you left these in her class," he said and pushed a sketchbook toward him.
Sai knew it. It was his sketchbook. "It…it is mine, I didn't know where it had gone," he said and reached forward to take it.
"She felt like it might have something to do with the young man that is missing, Naruto Uzamaki, stating that she felt that your drawings were deviant," he said as he took the sketchbook and opened it to a page where Sai had drawn a relatively graphic piece of a pair of lions mating. "Now, your regular teacher, she informed us that she did not think that there was any concern. However, considering the imperative nature of finding the young man, I had Iruka bring you in. Just to talk."
Sai shook his head. "Okay, I…I…I draw things…that I am interested with… I like animals and I just…" he looked away as a red blush rose to his cheeks.
"And your advisor said you were raised in an extremely conservative household," Kakashi confirmed. "I think I understand. When I spoke with the woman on the phone she said that it was 'deviant' for a person with your disability to think about sex. It most certainly isn't," he said with a smile.
Sai blushed a bit harder and looked down at his hands. "I…well…it is very complicated," he said and looked between them.
"Actually, I didn't bring you only for that. I understand that you are quite the art student, and that you are very good at recognizing patterns in artwork, and given our lack of information, I would like to ask for your assistance. Your advisor let me know that you were quite gifted," Kakashi said as he pushed the stack of papers over toward Sai.
Sai frowned and started looking at them. Before Kakashi said anything, he began quickly sorting them into some sort of order. He put the stack down and looked up.
"This is the first one," he said and handed it to Kakashi. "The drawing is drawn with care. It is of foxes and nothing else." He pushed the next. "This one came next, the lines are beginning to be less careful, but you can see that the foxes are taking on human traits. That is when the notes begin, like this that says 'traits' and there are arrows to the human changes." He put down a couple more. "Here it seems that something is driving him, the drawing is hasty, sketchy, and he's making maps of human anatomy." Sai laid down the last few. "The degeneration here is almost like someone different drew them. The style is changed."
"So was this two different people?" Iruka asked, concerned that they were now looking for multiple people.
"No, same person, but something is happening to their mental state. There is a general decline, but this last one, something triggered this violence. The marks are heavy, nearly piercing the paper, and the words are harsher than before. I…I'm not a psychology type, but this is a dangerous person…" Sai said and looked at them.
"Yeah, we were afraid of that," Kakashi said with a sigh. "I'll have Iruka take you back."
Iruka led Sai out and Kakashi rubbed his forehead. He was nowhere closer to figuring this out than he was. The amount of people that ordered "furry" gear was incredibly high. Even if he just looked at those that ordered fox themed items, it was so very many. He sighed and rubbed his head again. He needed to find the boy. It was already almost noon on Monday. He'd been gone way too long already and chances were slowly increasing that he was already dead.
However, he jumped as someone slammed something onto his desk. Kakashi looked up to see it was Sasuke again. He looked down to see it was another instant picture.
"I found it this morning, on my door. Fucking security cameras caught nothing. I don't know how but he must have calculated the exact interval between sweeps to get to my door and out without being caught," he said.
Kakashi looked at it and realized that it was a picture of Naruto's face this time, so if there was any doubt of who they were, this took it away. Well, it was part of his face, mostly just his eyes, both wide and dilated completely and staring at the camera.
"He's alive, though, take that from this," Kakashi said and turned it over. Almost too light to read, it had the words "you have to help me save him" on it.
"What if…what if this person is trying to get us to catch him," Kakashi said as he turned over the photo and looked at the front.
Sasuke looked at him. "What do you mean?"
Kakashi looked at him. "Why the photos? Why any of this? Why leave those drawings? I'm beginning to think this is less a simple kidnapping and more a very disturbed person. They're calling for help though. Like they know they're going to go too far."
Sasuke glared at him. "I don't give a fuck if they want help. I want to know where the fuck they are and get the Dobe back from him before he fucking kills him."
Kakashi nodded. "I know," Kakashi said with a sigh. "Believe me, I know."
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
"I…I don't understand why you're calling me in. I have nothing to do with anything!" the man with the red hair snarled at Iruka who was pulling the man along by the arm into Kakashi's office.
"Sit down and shut up," Iruka growled. He looked at Kakashi. "Sasori here was not interested in coming in to speak with you, sir."
"I have no reason to be here! I haven't done nothing!" he commented and crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.
Kakashi rubbed his forehead. It was Wednesday already. Still no solid leads. He sighed. "Do you know someone by the name of Kankuro Sands?"
Sasori narrowed his eyes. "Yes."
Kakashi gave him a second. "Alright, can you tell me how you know Kankuro?"
"He's a poor excuse for a puppeteer, and we do much better than he does…" he grumbled.
"Puppeteer?" Iruka asked from the doorway.
"Kankuro makes and performs shows with Bunraku puppets. So does Sasori and his partner Deidara. They seem to have an ongoing rivalry that has escalated more than one to threats from this pair," Kakashi explained.
"Did something happen to that idiot? Is that why I'm here? I didn't do anything!" Sasori growled under his breath.
"Actually, I've been handed some information about your partner Deidara. Something about him attacking and killing someone Akihabara and threatening to mail out pipe bombs to people, including Kankuro…" Kakashi said with a narrowed glance.
Sasori blinked. "That wasn't his fault! That bastard deserved what he fucking got! And…and he didn't kill the guy! He just beat him unconscious, I checked before I took him to the residential facility. He was calling him a 'fairy faggot' and a 'tranny bitch'. Deidara just snapped and flew at him, but anyone would have if someone called them that!"
Kakashi nodded, noting it coincided with the information he'd gotten from the hospital. The guy had been a raging homophobic bastard who was higher than a kite on meth. "Okay, I understand that you haven't been updating your blogs with usual regularity. Is there a reason?" Kakashi asked again, thinking there was no way this boy or his boyfriend had anything to do with Naruto.
"Internet's sketchy, you can check, they've been down a lot lately," Sasori asked, starting to worry. "What happened? Did something happen to Kankuro? I mean, I wish he wasn't competition, but I don't want him hurt…I mean…"
"Do you know the name Naruto Uzamaki?" Kakashi said and pushed a photo across the desk toward Sasori.
He shook his head. "No…I mean, he looks familiar, but not very…"
Kakashi pushed a photo of Shinobi Five over. Sasori pointed at Gaara. "That's Kankuro's little brother, I know him. Now I know how I know the blonde, I've seen him with Gaara."
Iruka sighed, looking at Kakashi with a sad smile. They hadn't thought it was going to be anything. They'd already contacted Deidara through the residential facility he was in. Deidara had borderline personality disorder, among a few other mental health issues, and struggled with his anger now and then. They had also told Kakashi that when he came it, it was usually his partner Sasori that brought him because he was the only one that could really do anything with him when he got to a bad place. Kakashi had found the man that Deidara had assaulted had indeed been calling him various names due to his androgynous appearance and feminine dress.
"You don't think Deidara would have done anything without your knowledge?" Kakashi verified.
"Of course not. He wouldn't, he trusts me. I take care of him when he needs it. I mean, he's hurt a lot of other people when he gets in a rage, but never me, and I can bring him down. I mean, we've had a few scares where he's said he was going to hurt himself…but I take him in to the doctor so he can get the help he needs. I…please, has something happened to Kankuro or his brother?" he said, looking at Kakashi with genuine worry.
"This boy, Naruto, is missing. He was being stalked and disappeared Thursday evening. We've been checking into every lead we can. If you hear anything, let us know. We believe he's in great danger," Kakashi said with a sigh and motioned for Iruka to take him out.
Kakashi put his head in his hands after he was gone. No matter how he looked at it, things were going back. Almost a week. The chances of the boy being alive were growing slimmer and slimmer.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
The surreal life Naruto was stuck in was almost too much for him to bear. He'd started giving him pain medicine in the IV and the feeding tube. Kabuto had ended up pouring something into the mitts he'd put on him that made it feel like it wasn't tearing his skin off anymore. He had no idea what he'd done to his hands but he had a feeling it wasn't good for him. He was grateful, though, for the drugs he was giving him. He'd come home from wherever he went each day and pull him out of the cage under the bed. He'd then spend the evening acting like he was a housemate or something like that. He'd talk to him, tell him about his day at the school teaching, or about going shopping, but of course, he couldn't answer.
Then, as it got late, Kabuto would feed him through the tube, take him to the shower with him and change the dressings on his head and check his ankles. If he was lucky, all that would happen then was he'd be taken to bed and Kabuto would fall asleep clutching him. He was, of course, tied to the bed and gagged. If Naruto wasn't lucky, Kabuto would start cooing and kissing him as though he were some sort of lover.
There wasn't a night he didn't sob silently beside him.
Morning would come, and he'd be fed in the tube, given an IV and placed in the cage for the day. Luckily, the drugs made it pass quickly. His mouth was healing fast, thankfully, and the area on his head was at the itching stage as the scalp healed around the implanted metal.
Naruto hadn't seen the horrifying version of Kabuto since he pulled his teeth out. To be honest, he was sure he wouldn't survive then. It was as though he were a different person, even his voice had changed. It was simply terrifying and he never, ever wanted to see that again.
Naruto came to wakefulness with a start as the cage opened over him. He realized that Kabuto had put him in the cage last night for some reason. He looked up with teary eyes as Kabuto lifted him out of the cage and sat him in a wheelchair, patting his face and kissing him before he took the gag off him. With the healing mouth, he had been using a leather cover rather than something that went into his mouth. He was glad of that.
"Oh, good morning my sweet Kogitsune! We have an exciting day! Saturday, and today we're going to get your tail put in!"
Naruto shook his head. "No, please…you can't…you'll…" he slurred, his tongue still somewhat swollen, and unused to not having teeth in his mouth.
Kabuto slapped him, eyes turning hard. "Don't. I've told you what the schedule is. We will abide by it," he glared at him as he pushed him toward the bathroom where he saw that he'd set up a metal table. He was going to attach a tail to him how? Kabuto hummed as he positioned him on his stomach and clipped his ankles and wrists down. He set up an IV with something that made his head spin. "I've decided to be nice, so I'm giving you some morphine. I hope you aren't allergic."
At first, Naruto didn't know what he was doing, but didn't care. He felt nice. Then he jerked his body when he felt a sharp pain down his back. He gasped out as he realized what he was doing. He heard him starting to use the drill and then despite the morphine, he screamed against the gag.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
"I know I heard something," Kimimaro said with a sigh as he stared out the window.
"Kimi, he lost the woman he considered a mother last week, give the guy a break," Haku said as he sat down Kimimaro's tea. There was a knock and he went to answer it.
A few minutes later, Haku's adopted father, Zabuza came in and nodded to him. "Hey, Kimimaro, how are you? My boy been taking good care of you?" he said with a smile.
"Yeah," he said with a sigh.
"What's wrong?" Zabuza said as he came and sat down near Kimimaro's wheelchair.
"He's convinced our neighbor is doing something illegal," Haku provided as he came in with a cup of tea for Zabuza.
"I know something is going on!" he snapped.
"What is it?" Zabuza asked with a smirk. He knew the stories of Kimimaro's paranoid observations.
"Well, he saw him dragging a body bag that turned out to be a tatami mat when the police went to check…" Haku started.
"I don't buy that, still. It was not a rug or a mat," Kimimaro said and sipped his tea with annoyance.
Haku shook his head. "And then I found out that Kabuto's adopted mother had died and the strange sobbing noises Kimi was hearing and the odd bumps now and then were because of that."
"It wasn't Kabuto's voice!" Kimimaro insisted. "I know it wasn't…" he muttered as he looked away.
"Kimi, you're being silly. Iruka went all over that place, upstairs, down to the basement, and there was not a thing out of place," Haku said as he slumped into the seat beside Zabuza.
Zabuza though frowned. "Ah, seems there's strange events all around…" he muttered.
"What's up? Something with the building you run security for?" Haku asked.
"Itachi's wound up, something about his little brother. You know how those Uchihas are," Zabuza said with a shrug.
Haku nodded. "What happened? Did he get in trouble?" Haku asked. "I thought he was in that band these days, and had gone had gone all punk rocker goth attitude, with the piercings, tattoos, and undercut hair…" he said as he sipped his tea.
Zabuza nodded. "Yeah, Shinobi Five, but they haven't played in the last week. Guess their front man is missing or something," he said with a sigh.
Kimimaro's eyes cut toward him. "Front man? Since when?"
Zabuza shrugged. "A week or more. I don't know for sure."
"Don't be ridiculous Kimi!" Haku said with a sigh. "Kabuto doesn't even listen to music, so him having anything to do with a guy in a rock band disappearing is silly! The kid probably ran off with a groupie or something."
Kimimaro growled and looked away. Why didn't anyone believe him? Though now… He had someone who might listen to him. After Zabuza left, and Haku went to bed, he got on the computer and tried to find anything about this band. He quickly found that the lead singer of it had disappeared, coincidentally, on the same day as he saw Kabuto with his "mat". He couldn't call the police, they wouldn't listen and would just think he was making things up again. He sighed and looked at the dark-haired boy in the photo of the band. He was brooding looking, definitely the emo goth looking kid, but even so, he was looking at the blond from the corners of his eyes as he smiled brilliantly. Now, how to get to him?
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Naruto woke with his head still spinning, lying on his stomach and completely numb from the waist down. He turned his head and saw Kabuto. "I had to give you an epidural, you were moving too much and I don't have full anesthesia equipment," he said with a smile as he sat beside him. "But don't worry, I think I did it correctly."
Naruto didn't answer, just stared at him. He reached up and cupped his face. "I'm sorry about your mouth, I didn't intend for the Predator to get out, I will fix it somehow. But look, I fixed up your mitts for you," he said and Naruto saw that he'd made the mitts look like paws.
At least now, though, he could move his fingers a little inside it. He guessed he'd poured some sort of solvent into it to lessen the bond. He wasn't going to mention it to him, though. He might try to "fix" them to make them permanent again.
"Please," Naruto whispered, lisping more than a little as he spoke. "Please, just…just take me to the hospital, leave me there, I won't tell anyone…"
Again, his eyes changed. "I've told you. You belong to me. Mind, body, and soul. And obviously, you haven't realized this. You will, though," he said as he did something behind him and moved the thing beside him. He felt a jolt and realized he must have removed the anesthetic. "The tail surgery was a success, though. You see, I bolted a set of metal plates at the base of your tailbone. Then I attached a tail piece to them. The nice thing is that I can remove it if I want. However, of course, you won't be able to sit like you used to. That's the point, though. You're my fox now. So, you'll sit like one. My little Kogitsune," he said and leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "I've set your ankles, though. I've decide to wait and see how the wraps I get work before I amputate them. We'll try those tomorrow, and if it works, then I'll leave your human legs intact. But if you don't be a good fox, I'll take them off and make full modifications…"
Naruto nodded. Making every intention to do exactly what he said.
Kabuto waited until he fell asleep and stared at him. As if in a daze, he stood up and went to the bathroom and picked up the instant camera. It was almost as though he were in a fugue state as he snapped three photos of the Kogitsune, and wrote on the backs of the photos. He locked the door behind him and left, not noticing the curtain next door moving just a bit. He stood in front of the house. He watched the cameras again, and then pasted the photos to the door with a bit of tape, then returned to lie down by the Kogitsune.
As morning came, Sasuke found the three photos on the door, making a dash for the car he was using and storming into the police station again. He didn't even get questioned by the desk Sargent anymore. He slammed the new ones down on the desk.
"Sasuke, already, I know it's Monday but…" Kakashi said and picked up the photos. "Oh my."
Iruka came in, having heard that Sasuke had come in already. Kakashi looked up. "Summon Dr. Tsunade. Immediately. I need to know what this person has done to him."
Sasuke was waiting impatiently by the door to the conference room a couple hours later when a woman with large breasts and an annoyed expression came into the room with Iruka. "What is happening and why am I here?" she asked as she flopped into the chair at the end of the table and glared at Kakashi.
"Tsunade…I know you're busy, but here…I need you to tell me what you think of this," Kakashi said, pushing the file at her.
She opened it and looked at the photos, putting them out in the sequence they had been taken. "What the hell is this person doing to him?" she muttered and glanced at the sketches. "He's…he's trying to turn him into a fox…a fox? Who would do this…"
"He was stalked for a year. Then he was kidnapped Thursday before last after a show. Sasuke has been finding this stuck to his door ever since," Kakashi explained.
She shook her head. "He's bolted these to his skull," she said, noting the way the incisions were done. "And this," she said as she looked at one of the recent three. "He's used titanium plates and it looks like bolted them to his tailbone, they're barely emerging from the skin, my guess to attach a tail like he did the ears. Whoever did this is in medicine, but not a doctor. They're most likely either a med student that dropped out halfway through or a current med student. I'd guess in orthopedics or surgery…" she muttered. She looked up. "The missing supplies."
"Missing supplies?" Kakashi asked, frowning.
"Yeah, I just went to the dean because a case of narcotics disappeared last weekend, and there were some…metal plates…" she looked up at him. "This is the same person. Whoever is stealing supplies at the teaching hospital is the one that's got his kid. They must be. Look," she said and pointed to the photo of the boy's face, where there was a feeding tube taped to his cheek. "This isn't something you pick up locally. And to get the formula that is used…" She glanced at the last one, which was a shot of him lying on his stomach on a bed, hands tied above his head. "He's using a foley catheter, and an IV, look," she commented, seeing the tubes. "Whoever this is knows just enough to keep this kid alive."
Sasuke looked at her. "What does this mean?"
"I might have an idea how to catch them," she said and looked over the sketches. "He's going to need a few things if he's going to continue this transformation. Look, he's indicating he's going to make him four legged, see…" she pointed to the sketch where the legs were shortened. "He might try to amputate his legs below the knee. That would be the easiest way to do that…but he's going to need supplies…"
Sasuke looked at the one that showed most of his body. "What's wrong with his mouth?"
Tsunade picked it up. "Oh, gods…" she muttered. "He's pulled his teeth out. No wonder he put a feeding tube into him…" she said and looked up. She pulled out her phone.
"Yeah, Tsunade here. I need you to put some surveillance cameras on the storerooms in the teaching hospital. Hidden, we need to find out who's stealing them. Quickly. The case with the feeding tube supplies and the narcotics. Maybe the anesthesia supplies. What's missing? You can't be serious? Let me know if any other equipment is gone."
"What else is missing?" Kakashi asked with a frown.
"Equipment for an epidural," she said.
"I know this seems bad, but now we have the best lead so far," Kakashi said, looking at Sasuke.
Sasuke looked through the photos again. It wasn't enough. He needed to find him. He had to.