Chapter Seven
Breaking Chains
Naruto's world was smaller now. He had to please his master and that was all there was to it. Even so, when he said that he was going to go ahead and amputate his legs, he panicked and tried to get away for the first time in months. He hadn't even thought of trying to get away, but as soon as he started laying out the things he'd need to perform the amputation, Naruto's human brain kicked into gear and told him to get away.
His ankles had healed mostly, but since they'd never been cast or anything, they ached terribly, and he knew they probably weren't healed correctly. As soon as Kabuto had unwrapped his legs, he'd tried to crawl away. Kabuto was mostly amused at the attempt to escape and let him get to the door. He might have screamed for help, he wasn't sure anymore, but he was just going to get away. He managed to get the door open and saw the outside world before his head slammed into the doorframe and everything went dark.
Now, he was tied down in the basement and with someone besides the Master. He was a pale man with white hair and vibrant eyes of pale green. He looked uncomfortable where he was being held against the wall of the shower. Naruto knew he was going to be punished for what he'd done. It was just a matter of when.
"Can you hear me?" the new person asked him. He looked up to see that he'd managed to dislodge the ball gag. Apparently, the Master hadn't put it on correctly.
Naruto lifted his head from his hands where he was laying on the floor and nodded. He knew better than to talk, though. That would lead to him being shocked by the Master.
"They're still looking for you; they haven't forgotten you. Your name was Naruto, right?" he whispered hoarsely at him. "I'm Kimimaro. I live next door. Someone is going to be looking for me."
Naruto. Yeah, that was his old name before he became Kogitsune for the Master. He couldn't think of being anything else these days. He was nothing but a toy fox. He wasn't anything else except what the Master told him he was. He had to be a good fox for him, so the Predator didn't return again. But now that he had tried to escape again, he wondered what the Predator would do. Someone wouldn't survive the encounter, and he was sure that it would be him.
"You have to try to get free again, or we're both in trouble," Kimimaro said and pulled on his arms where the handcuffs clipped them above his head.
Kimimaro's mind was reeling. He'd been right all along. Everything he'd feared was true. Right next door, there was a person suffering in such a way for what reason. This was worse than he could have imagined. He didn't think about Kabuto making physical alterations to the body of someone like this. There was no way he could tell if they could even be reversed. What was he trying to accomplish?
He could try to call out, but no one would hear anything from down in the basement. Unless someone was actually upstairs in this place, even the loudest scream would be muted. Even then, he doubted he could make that loud of a noise.
"Can you get free?" he asked Naruto insistently.
The boy picked up his hands and there was a clinking sound. Kimimaro could see they were handcuffed together and attached to another bar. There was no way either of them were going to get out of this situation easily.
"Haku will be looking for me; I know he will. They'll come over here and find us."
There was a jingle and Naruto laid his head on his hands again, tilting it to the side and staring at him. The boy had bright blue eyes that glittered in the dim light. Blood ran down the right side of his face where his head had been hit on the door frame. Was he cowed so much that he couldn't function? He'd been stalked and then he'd been kidnapped and undergone obvious torture. If he didn't miss his guess, his mouth was wrong because his teeth had been removed. How would someone even heal from that?
He leaned his head back against the wall and hoped that Haku found him. He had to hope that he'd put aside his surety that there was nothing going on next door, so he could see what was happening. He felt the pull of sleep at his lids as he reached a point of exhaustion and probably effects of the head injury.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Haku was on the phone immediately to the police. He had to get someone out here to figure out what had happened to Kimimaro.
"Are you sure that he didn't just go somewhere else?" asked the officer on the phone.
"He's in a wheelchair. He can't move that quickly. I know something has happened to him, please, send someone to come help!" Haku didn't know what else to do but plead with the police to help him. But would they believe him when he said that he'd gone into Kabuto's place?
"Alright, alright, I'll send Iruka out to see what he can find out. I know he's been out to your place before," the officer said, and the phone cut off.
Haku stood outside and waited until the car arrived with Iruka in it. He got out and walked up to where Haku stood in front of the door.
"Iruka," Haku said. "Please, you've got to help," he begged. "Kimimaro is gone, so is his chair and I think he's in Kabuto's place."
"What makes you think that?" Iruka asked with a frown.
"Kiba was out here and his dog tracked his scent over to his doorway, and there's blood on the door frame," Haku explained. "I know something has happened to him!"
Iruka nodded and looked around. "I'll go check and see if Kabuto will let me in," he started as he began to go toward the door.
"He's not home," Haku explained. "He was leaving a few minutes after Kimimaro disappeared."
Iruka frowned again. "Well, if he did something to Kimimaro, I doubt he'd just leave."
Haku knew he was right. "I know I sound crazy, and I know Kimi has called you all on so many false calls before, but this time, I know something is happening! Kimimaro can't just wander off in his condition!"
Iruka nodded and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll look around. He can't be far."
Haku watched as Iruka took off to search around the building and Haku knew he wouldn't find anything. He knew where Kimimaro was, and he was inside the next home. How could he prove it, though? The police couldn't just barge into Kabuto's house without cause. Especially since there had been so many calls from their house already.
Before long, Iruka came back. "I couldn't find any sign of him," he said as he shut off his flashlight. "I'll put out a call for the area, and I'll drive around and see if he is anywhere near here."
"I'm telling you, he's been right all along, and Kabuto is up to something and now he's been caught by him," Haku said as he wrung his hands together.
Iruka sighed and nodded. "Well, I don't know what we can do but wait for Kabuto to get home so I can talk to him. I'll go drive around, just in case there's any way he could have taken off and got further away than you think."
"Okay, thank you," Haku said as he watched him go and get into his car again.
He went back into their home and closed the door with a sigh.
Kimimaro, what did you do?
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Kakashi frowned as he looked at the message from Iruka. "Kimimaro again," he muttered as he shook his head. He was missing this time, and that was odd. Haku had called. That meant that it was a serious situation. Haku wouldn't call in if it wasn't something major and that he was sure of.
Things were coming to a head and he knew it. He felt that they were finally going to get to the bottom of this case that had been bugging him for so long now. He was almost done for the night when he heard a familiar voice.
"Inspector Hatake," he heard and looked up to see Sasuke Uchiha standing in the doorway with another picture in hand.
"A photo? After three months?" he asked and reached for the instant photo.
Sasuke handed it over without saying anything. Kakashi looked to see it was another picture of Naruto, but this time he was curled up on a bed, seemingly asleep. He still looked vaguely like they had last seen him; he had the ears and tail, but now he seemed to lie in such a way as to accommodate them. On the back was another scrawled message. "Help him before He gets out" and something that was scratched out with the pencil. Kakashi glared at it and wondered what else he wanted to say.
"Who is he talking about getting out?" Sasuke asked as he stared at Kakashi.
"I don't know, but he's wanting us to find him. He's given us all the clues we need; we just have to put them together. Between this and Kimimaro going missing…"
"Kimimaro is missing?" Sasuke asked, recognizing the name of the neighbor to the suspect Kabuto. "Isn't that a little strange since he was the one that reported the neighbor? It can't be a coincidence."
Kakashi shook his head. "No, I don't believe in coincidences. Iruka is out now looking for Kimimaro but he can't go into someone's house without a reason."
"You have to do something," Sasuke said with a deadly serious look. "You've failed to find him for over three months, and now we don't even know how he's doing other than a few pictures."
Kakashi nodded. "Iruka is out looking for Kimimaro. He should find him if he's out there. The man is in a wheelchair; it isn't like he can get all that far away. If Iruka can't find him, I might be able to convince them to get a warrant to go into Kabuto's house. He's still the only viable suspect we've had."
"Why for three months did we hear nothing?" Sasuke asked as he glared at the photograph.
"Something about the perpetrator that made him comfortable in what was going on, perhaps. Perhaps he was so focused on his new 'pet' that he didn't have time for anything else," Kakashi guessed as he tapped the desktop with one finger.
Sasuke nodded but looked away from him. He was thinking about a lot of things and one of them was going on his own to this guy's house and breaking in. If he could get some sort of proof, they couldn't ignore it, could they?
"You're thinking of doing something stupid," Kakashi interrupted his thoughts. "Don't. We want to rescue both of them if they've both been taken." There was a ringing of the phone and Kakashi held up a finger to tell him to wait.
"Inspector Hatake," he answered. "Alright. I'll see if I can't get into the house," he said and hung up. He glanced at Sasuke. "No luck finding Kimimaro. I'm going to try and get us into the place. Go on home, and I'll call you if we find anything out."
Sasuke couldn't just go home, but he nodded and left the police station and started walking. Three months and all he could do was wait. Wait and see. They had no reason other than Kimimaro to suspect the guy's neighbor, and he wasn't considered a reliable source. He had no idea where he was going when he ended up at Kimimaro's house. He blinked and thought he'd talk to the guy's caretaker and see what was going on. He knocked on the door and found it quickly answered by the young Haku.
"Oh, hello, I was hoping you were someone else, sorry," he said with a sigh.
"Yeah, heard that Kimimaro was missing tonight. I just came from the police station. They're trying to get something to let them go into your neighbor's place to check on things there," Sasuke explained. "I don't know why I came here, I just needed to go somewhere besides home."
"Come in," Haku said with a gentle smile and motioned Sasuke into the house.
"Thank you," he said with an attempt to smile in return that failed completely.
Haku led him into the living room that was really Kimimaro's bedroom and into the small kitchen area where a table sat. "Please, sit down, I'll make us some tea," Haku told him as he turned to the stove.
"Thank you, again," Sasuke said and stared at his hands. "I feel so useless especially knowing that if Kimimaro was right, and he's been next door this entire time…"
"Don't fret on what's passed." Haku said as he sat down a couple of cups on the table. "There was no way to prove what Kimimaro was saying, especially when an officer had already been in the place. If Kabuto is hiding something, he was able to hide it from Iruka."
Sasuke nodded, still feeling useless. "I tried to tell him to take the stalking seriously, you know. I made him report it finally." Haku got the kettle off the stove and poured water into their cups. "I did everything I could have done."
"Yes, you did. And even though no one took Kimimaro seriously, we still asked questions and went over next door. I have even been there and saw nothing out of place at all," Haku said as he sat down across from Sasuke.
"What should we do?" Sasuke asked as he stirred the tea thoughtfully.
"What can we do?" Haku asked and sipped his own tea. "There is nothing to do but to wait.
Sasuke sighed and nodded. "Always with the waiting."
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Kabuto wandered for a while, wondering what he was going to do.
Time to let go of it, whispered in his head.
Was it time to let go of it? Had he taken thing far enough so that he could no longer protect his Kogitsune? The Predator was itching to get out and destroy him. He couldn't let that happen. He had to protect his little fox.
In the last three months, Kabuto had been happy. He had spent his time with his Kogitsune and had been able to just exist. Now and then, the Predator threatened to come out, but he would leave, like he had now, and go walk around until he felt the presence fade and he was clear headed enough to deal with his fox. Training his fox had taken time, and a lot of patience, but he had done it. He had turned that willful boy into a demure and faithful pet, and it was the most empowering thing he'd ever done.
He'd sent away for a set of contacts, too, that made his eyes look like a snake's. He would often put them in before he played with his Kogitsune. Over that time, he'd also filed his teeth somewhat to give them an appearance of fangs. It wasn't incredibly noticeable, but it was enough that when he smiled, it could be seen. Of course, the only time he smiled was around his toy fox. That was the only time he was truly happy, after all. He felt his head clear a bit and turned to head back home.
How to deal with the neighbor? He hadn't expected that. He only wanted to make his Kogitsune perfect in every way, and cutting off his legs at the knee was the only way they he could make him look even more authentic. He'd debated doing it for the last two months, and tonight he had prepared for it. But then Kogitsune had to try and get away from him. He should have known that it would frighten his fox to be told he was going to amputate his legs. He only blamed himself for the situation he now found himself in.
He looked up and realized he was back home. He smiled and opened the door, going back into his home and getting together dinner in the kitchen. He would have to think more on his other victim. He would have to kill him, obviously. He wouldn't, couldn't, let him live knowing about his Kogitsune. He had to be careful though.
After he'd fixed dinner for himself and his little fox he carried the bowl for his Kogitsune down into the basement. He saw Kimimaro had managed to dislodge the gag and had fallen asleep. He knelt and gave his little fox the bowl and let him eat, petting his hand through his hair. It was longer now, the blond strands falling over his ears and into his eyes a little. He wondered if it would be easy to dye his hair to match the ears on his head. He had thought of other things to do to his fox, things that he had stopped himself from doing out of fear of going too far.
He heard Kimimaro stir next to him and he turned and smiled as Kimimaro's eyes fluttered open. "Kimimaro," he said with a grin.
"Kabuto," Kimimaro said with wide eyes. He watched as Kimimaro's eyes went to his toy fox and then returned to him. "Let me go from here, we can get you help."
"I don't need help. I need to be left alone with my Kogitsune," Kabuto said as he continued to pet his hand through his fox's hair. "We were fine until tonight."
"Please, think about this, Kabuto, just consider how wrong this is!" Kimimaro's eyes were pleading with him.
"There is nothing wrong with me taking care of my fox," he said and smiled at him, revealing the sharpened teeth he'd given himself. "He's my fox now. There's nothing anyone can do to change that now."
"What are you going to do with me?"
"I haven't decided. You can't be let go, not after you've seen my fox and I can't let you live," he said and patted Kimimaro on the head. "I'll do you a favor and end your suffering before you become a prisoner of your own skeleton. Better to die while you can still move about freely."
Kimimaro's eyes went wide. "Please, no. I just want to live out my days in peace and quiet."
"No, you don't. You thrive on adventure dreams and thinking you see things happening where there is nothing. It was a body bag, you know, that first night you saw me. I'd kept Kogitsune in one to move him. You were right all along, so at least before you die, you'll know that much." He stood up and smiled. "Now, I have to make plans on what to do with your body…"
Kimimaro shook his head and started to speak again, but Kabuto ignored him as he went back up the stairs. He had to decide how to deal with a body. He couldn't just take this lightly.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Iruka had been over the area several times and found no trace of Kimimaro. He was heading back to Haku and Kimimaro's place when his cell phone rang. He pulled into a parking space outside the row of homes and answered.
"Umino," he answered.
"Iruka, you near Kimimaro's place still?" Kakashi's voice came across the line.
"Yeah, just pulled in front of it."
Kakashi sighed. "I'm in route to you. We're going to canvass the homes around his. Don't go to Kabuto's house until I get there. We still think he may have something to do with Kimimaro's disappearance."
"Alright," he said and hung up his phone. He just had to wait a few minutes until another car pulled into the parking area and he looked out to see Inspector Hatake approach the car.
"Anything change?" Kakashi asked him through the window.
"No, but I've only been here since you called me."
"Come on, then. Let's see if we can't get a look inside his place to either confirm or eliminate him as a suspect," Kakashi said and stepped to the side to let Iruka get out.
"The neighbor said that his dog trailed Kimimaro's scent to Kabuto's door. It would be too much of a coincidence even if he left afterward," Iruka said with a glance at the row of homes.
"Let's check in with Haku and let him know that we're not giving up," Kakashi said as they walked up to Haku's door.
Kakashi knocked and it was quickly answered by Haku.
"Inspector," he said with a smile. "Have you found something?"
"Not yet, but we're going to canvas the neighbors now. I just wanted to let you know before we started that we're going to find him," Kakashi said to the younger man.
"Sasuke is here with me," Haku said and gestured behind him where Sasuke was coming up. "We were having tea and talking about everything."
"Alright, you two stay here. We'll let you know if we find anything," Kakashi assured him.
Iruka tried to give him a reassuring smile too but it probably came out as a tight forced smile. They turned to the side and Kakashi gave a nod as they headed toward Kabuto's door. Kakashi looked around and put a hand against the doorframe and it came away tacky and red. "Blood," he muttered.
Kakashi knocked on the door loudly. It took a minute for someone to call out inside to "wait a minute". They waited as the door was finally pulled open and they both recognized Kabuto. Iruka from experience, Kakashi from pictures. He pushed his glasses up his nose and looked between the two of them.
"Can I help you?" he asked, and for a second Iruka caught the tremor in his voice.
"I'm Inspector Kakashi Hatake. You know Officer Iruka Umino, I believe. We're looking for your neighbor, Kimimaro, and we were checking in with the other residents," Kakashi said casually.
"I haven't seen him," Kabuto said and smiled, but it was obviously a strained smile. "Might check with the others. Maybe he's down at Kiba's."
He started to close the door when Kakashi caught it. "Wait, I wanted to ask you about this blood on your doorway."
"Blood?" Kabuto asked and glanced to where Kakashi was pointing. "I don't know about that…"
"Can we take a look inside and make sure there isn't a problem?" Kakashi continued.
"No!" he snapped and then smiled. "No, I mean, I was about to leave."
"You just came home," Iruka noted from beside Kakashi. "I tried to see you when I was by earlier and you weren't home."
Kabuto's eyes widened and he licked his lips nervously. "I…I um…" he started and then he started to giggle suddenly. Kakashi and Iruka exchanged a look with each other. He laughed for a couple minutes and then stopped, eyes even wider and gasped as he collapsed suddenly, body beginning to seize.
Kakashi dropped to his knees and spoke into his radio. "I need an ambulance at my location!"
Behind them, Sasuke and Haku had been standing outside the door to Haku's house. Both came running when Kabuto fell to the ground. Sasuke looked toward the door and thought he heard something.
"I hear someone," Sasuke said as he looked past them.
"Well, just a minute, the ambulance is on the way for him," Kakashi said as Kabuto's body seemed to be calming down, but he was still unconscious.
"No, I hear someone in here," Sasuke said and stepped around them into the house. He could hear muffled yelling coming from the basement.
Kakashi sighed deeply and looked at Iruka. "Go with him," he said as he stayed with Kabuto. He heard the noise of the coming ambulance already.
"Hold on," Iruka said as he caught up to Sasuke who was about to open the basement. He could hear the sound of someone's muffled yelling too. He put his fingers to his lips and opened the basement door. The muffled sounds became clearer.
"Hello?" a voice that Iruka recognized yelled out. "Is someone there?"
Iruka sighed and started down the steps with Sasuke right behind him. He knew it was too much to ask the young man to stay put. He came down and saw Kimimaro handcuffed up against a shower backsplash.
"Help, please!" Kimimaro yelled out, handcuffs jingling as he leaned forward. "Please!"
Iruka went through the doorway into the little bathroom where Kimimaro was bound. Sasuke was right behind him and he heard the boy gasp and he realized that their missing boy was there too, tied down there as well.
Sasuke saw Kimimaro first but then his eyes were drawn to a head of bright blond hair lying on the floor beside Kimimaro's feet.
"Naruto!" he gasped and scrambled over to him. He lifted his head and saw him blink those big blue eyes. He turned his head to the side and stared at Sasuke in apparent confusion.
Sasuke didn't know what to do. He just stared at him in equal parts horror and shock. Seeing the pictures were one thing, but seeing it close up was another. He was thin and his mouth was wrong. The ears that were set into his skull were wearing along the edges.
"Stay here with them," Iruka said as he started up the stairs. "Inspector! I've got them, both the vics! Need another ambulance! Probably two!"
Sasuke put a hand against Naruto's face and tilted it upward. "I can't believe what he's done," he whispered as he thumbed the scars on Naruto's cheek. "Can you talk to me?"
He didn't say anything. "He hasn't said anything since I've been down here," Kimimaro said as he sat there waiting for someone to unlock his hands. His wheelchair was nearby, folded up against the wall.
Once everything started happening, it started happening fast. Upstairs, Kabuto had been taken away in an ambulance to be met by police at the hospital. Two more ambulances were called in for Naruto and Kimimaro. Haku waited expectantly outside the door that was now being guarded by an officer. Down in the basement, Iruka and Kakashi came down with a handcuff key. Kimimaro was unhooked and a paramedic came down and helped walk him up the stairs. It was obvious they weren't sure how to handle Naruto in his condition.
Sasuke took the handcuff key and unlocked his hands from where they were tied down. Naruto didn't say anything still, just stared at them wide eyed as though not sure what to think. He sat up as well as he could, propping himself up on his arms and sitting against his legs where they were pulled underneath him. Sasuke started to leave to let the paramedics take care of him but he reached out and grabbed Sasuke's ankle when he tried to walk away. He knelt back down again and looked at him.
"I won't go anywhere," Sasuke said and meant it. They wouldn't get him to part with him now that he'd found him again.
The paramedics came down and they soon found that Naruto didn't take well to them trying to touch him. Sasuke took the hospital gown they were trying to put on him and he pulled Naruto up by the arm to sit up somewhat straighter. He threaded his arms through the sleeves and tied it around in front of him.
"There's not room for a gurney down here," the paramedic said as he looked around. "We'll need to get him up the stairs."
Sasuke put his arms around Naruto under his arms and lifted him to stand. When he did, Naruto's legs nearly buckled under him, but he held onto Sasuke. The paramedic managed to get on the other side of him until they got to the stairs where there was only room for two side by side. Sasuke managed to maneuver him up to the top where the gurney was waiting for them. They had put it down and Sasuke led him to crawl up on it since he couldn't lay on his back. He seemed overly calm and Sasuke was wondering why he wasn't more responsive. So far, he just did whatever he was told to do.
"We'll get the collar off him at the hospital. I'd rather not mess with anything until he can be seen to by a doctor," the other paramedic said as he pulled the sheet over him.
Again, Sasuke tried to walk away, but Naruto grabbed him by the pant leg and stared at him. "You should stay with him," Kakashi said from beside him.
Sasuke nodded and walked beside the gurney as they walked him out of the house to the waiting ambulance. Sasuke got in with them and sat beside him as they headed through the night.