AN: Thank you for the kind comments and words of encouragement. Without further ado here is Chapter II.
I don't own Naruto
Chapter II
Naruto's feelings were palpable the moment he entered the caravan cart jail cell. His anxiousness, nervousness, apprehensiveness seemed to linger in the air. Yamato felt his emotions flowing through the atmosphere and tried to encourage Naruto while chaining him in the cart. "Stay focused on the mission, make your moves when necessary, and be inconspicuous. You will be in and out within a month. I know it," whispered Yamato.
Naruto's mouth curved upward into a meek smile at hearing those words. Truth was, he was feeling the way he did because of his mission parameters. Sneaking into a Hidden Village, child's play, impersonating another ninja, simple, being locked in a cell in a notorious prison while finding and destroying a mysterious box was not child's play nor simple. He needed to bury those feelings though. The only thing they would do is hinder his mission. Whispering quietly so only few would hear Naruto said, "Thank you." He appreciated Yamato's words. Yamato was a very blunt person. If he saw something wrong he would point it out immediately. So, when Yamato gives out praise, he means it. If Yamato was confident he could complete this mission, then Naruto knew he could complete it.
-On the Caravan-
It has been several days since that small chat. After being chained in, Naruto had discovered and memorized the schedule of the guards. Breakfast, travel, lunch, travel, dinner, rest and repeat. It wasn't a very complex schedule to figure out. During one of the breaks though he over-heard several of the guards talking about meeting up with another caravan before completing their trip to the prison. This had to be the caravan holding his teammate for the mission.
Off in the distance Naruto could faintly see an object outlined by the horizon. Naruto noticed throughout their journey that they were usually the only one using this road. There were also no bandit ambushes on the caravan. It was a little suspicious to see so little activity on such a large road. Going by the lack of activity in the past several days Naruto assumed that the faint object was the other caravan.
Naruto was a patient person. But, at this very moment, Naruto was getting antsy. He knew the trip would be long because the guards were all civilians but he wanted nothing more than to meet up with his teammate, find this box and get back to the Leaf Village.
Naruto only had to wait another 45 minutes before the other caravan came into full view. It was almost identical to the convoy he was chained inside. Four strong steads were in front pulling the long cage structure that was sitting on a wooden platform and attached to large wooden wheels. The only difference between the two caravans was that their cage was covered with what appeared to be a weathered cloth. It must have been raining off towards the North. Naruto was hoping he could at least scout out the other members of the cart and possibly get a good read on who his ally is. It was easy to read who a ninja is by their body type and posture. Those are two things that were hard for any ninja to hide. Hopefully when they stop for their dinner break he will be able to see what is underneath the-
"Hey! Let's get moving! I want to drop off these scumbags tonight! I don't want to be caught in another rainstorm!" shouted the guard sitting in front of the other convoy.
It seemed like Naruto will be getting a glimpse of the other soon to be inmates tonight when they arrive at the prison. Tsunade said that he would be in a room with his teammate so it isn't the end of the world if he doesn't find them before he reaches the prison. Looking ahead of the convoy Naruto could see the sun setting over the ocean. It was a truly beautiful sight. The orange yellow hues glowed over the water and seemed to dye the water a yellow-orange blend. It was breathtaking. Following the wondrous setting star Naruto saw a dark speck eclipsing part of the sun. That must have been the prison. By the end of the day Naruto would be locked inside what is considered to be a fortified institution with an entrance and no exit.
-Later That Day-
The loud crash of the wooden ship hitting against a rock awoke Naruto from his slumber. He must have dosed off while looking at the sunset. Groggily he flickered his eyes to get the remaining sleep out of them. He wanted to rub them with his hands but they were chained around his back and to the cage. Finally, after vigorously fluttering his eyelids his vision seemed to clear. During his slumber his cage must have been loaded onto a ship and they must have sailed across the lake to the prison. Taking in his surroundings Naruto saw the shipmates throwing ropes over the side down to what he assumed to people waiting below to tie the ship to the dock. Around the deck other shipmates were running about lowering the sails and tying down excess gear that they would not be needing now that they were docked.
"Where the fuck is Mui?! That little shit was supposed to meet us here to help transport the prisoners?" The scream of the ship captain drew Naruto's attention away from the background. Who is this Mui? He must be fairly important to this prison if he is supposed to escort them to the prison.
One of the guards put his hand up to his mouth and whistled sharply to get the attention of the others guards. He turned to one in particular and whispered some orders into his ear. With his head eclipsed by his underling he could not read his lips. After the short lecture the underling ran back up the dock towards the prison presumably. While Naruto was watching one of the guards run away, the guard that had given the orders had made his way over to the side of the boat.
"Warden Mui will be here shortly. He had some unforeseen business that had to be dealt with immediately. I have sent one of my men to alert him of your arrival. His business should be over with by now." Despite the obvious rage of the sailor the guard remained stoic throughout the conversation.
A few minutes later a tall man that looked to be in his forties appeared walking down the dock. If his title didn't give away his importance then the way the guards acted around him did. The man called Mui was dressed in a black body suit held together by a brown belt with a silver buckle. It was covered though by his large black overcoat. Everything from his long dark locks to his opaque black cloak to his emotionless charcoal eyes was intimidating. He had the look of a man that should not be trifled with. What had Naruto gotten himself into?
"I apologize for my late arrival but an unruly inmate had to be dealt with." Mui's tone was as dark as his cloak and the way he said the phrase "dealt with" made several people shiver. Mui stuck his hand under his cloak and pulled a clipboard out from underneath it. He then continued with his monologue, "I must thank you for transporting these animals to me safely. Once I have counted all of the prisoners I will take them off your ship." After the end of his statement Mui walked over to the rope ladder on the side of the boat and started to make his way on board.
His brown combat boots smacked loudly against the floorboards of the vessel. It sounded as if Mui was going to fall through into the commons below the deck. He finally made it to the cage and started to check in each of the prisoners… "Masahiro Asaki, Kaito Fujika, Riku Kato, Haru Kobayashi…." Mui continued on down the cage checking in every prisoner and then finally, "Naruto Namikaze." Naruto peered upwards when he heard his name spoken. He looked up to meet Mui's cold condescending contemplative look. It was impossible for Naruto to even tell what Mui was thinking. His gaze gave away nothing. After what seemed like a century but was only several seconds Mui turned his gaze elsewhere and continued taking attendance.
Moments later Mui was calling the guards onto the ship and they were unlocking the cage. Walking inside the guards carried heavy metal shackles and started to cuff the prisoners together. One by one they would shackle the legs, undo the cuffs attaching the prisoner to the cage, handcuff their hands with their cuffs, and then attach their cuffs to the shackles. This entire process only took a minute or so before the prisoners were set to be moved off the vessel.
With all the prisoners cuffed together they were forced to move in symmetry, right foot together, left foot together. They moved in a single file line out of the cage. While they were moving out of the cage Mui had set up a plank of wood reaching from the portside of the ship down to the dock. Altogether the parade of prisoners trekked down the plank and onto the dock. Once every prisoner had made it to the dock the shipmates started undoing the ropes and took the plank back onto the ship. Yelling could be heard on board and the shipmates could be seen frantically running all around the ship. The ship was getting ready to leave. There goes Naruto's only known source of transportation off the island.
-On the trail to the Prison-
Naruto wished nothing more than to rip off these constraints and run. Feel the wind in his face, the momentary sense of flying from tree branch to tree branch. He could not do that though. Naruto could only look up at the trees adjacent to the path he was currently walking on. He never liked moving at a civilian's pace. Naruto liked efficiency. This hike up the mountain to the prison was anything but efficient. The entire caravan of prisoners has been walking for at least an hour now. Naruto's condescending thoughts were interrupted by a sudden exclamation from prisoner towards the front of the line, "Fuck this!"
The short and nimble man, Naruto was positive it was Haru Kobayashi, darted out of the procession line and towards the forested area on the right side of the path. Guards turned their heads and watched him run, leaves and branches were left rustling in his wake. After several seconds Mui turned towards the procession line and grew a dark smile that was only seen in the nightmares of the most scarred ninja. With that smile Mui bent his knees and got in position to jump. He left some parting words for the group of prisoners before he lept. Mui simply said, "Let this be a lesson to everyone. Nobody escapes from my prison. If you even try to escape you will face drastic consequences."
With his preamble finished Mui lept up into the treetops to chase down his prey. It would only be a minute before a sudden scream echoed throughout the forest. The scream sounded anything but pleasant. It was the scream that was saved for when one felt excruciating pain. The scream planted a seed of fear within the prisoner transport. The prisoners would not have to wait long for Mui to return either. The evil man walked through the bushes dragging his prey by the scruff of the neck. Haru looked like he was thrown on a grill and left to burn. His skin was charred pitch black. The prisoner was the equivalent of a charcoal burning in a raging inferno.
Mui cleared his throat to draw the attention away from the burnt prisoner. He then started, "This is the lesson I was talking about previously. Nobody escapes from my prison…... that is without a deathly wound. I will make little Haru an example of what happens when you defy your warden." With that said Mui grabbed the small burnt man by the neck and in one swift movement of his hand he shattered the man's windpipe. The multiple cracks made almost everyone in the procession cringe. Almost everyone. The one person who didn't cringe was Naruto. As a ninja he was acclimated to the gory actions committed by other ninjas. Despite not cringing, it added to the worrisome knot growing in his stomach. He was supposed to escape his cell, find information on a relatively unknown box and then escape from this lunatic? Naruto definitely should get a decent sized bonus for completing this mission.
The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful. Mui had scared the other prisoners into being little obedient soldiers. They would not dare to rebel and face the consequences. It only took another hour before the caravan reached the top of the mountain and subsequently the prison. The prison was old and gothic looking. Like it was built in the early clan warring era's. Naruto could barely make out the old seals inscribed in the stone. He didn't have a lot of time to study the seal inscribed architecture as the procession started walking through the massive gate. The gate itself was mammoth. At least 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide. At the very top of the opening was a sturdy steel door. Not too long after entering the prison the door slammed down creating a large wall of cement dust.
The courtyard was large and vast. Long three-story stone buildings decorated the landscape. That must be where they held the prisoners. The buildings were lined up parallel to the courtyard. Eight buildings lined up on one side match the eight on the other. The group walked until they reached the middle of the courtyard. Once stopped several guards walked over to the door of the closest building and unlocked it. The guards held the doors open while the rest of the guards escorted all of the prisoners inside of the room. The room that they walked into appeared to be a processing room. There was an enclosed room with a glass window to the right side. Inside the enclosed room there were large numbers marked on the back wall. That must be where they are taking their mug shots. Over on the left side of the room were two small cells furnished with nothing more than a couple cement benches protruding from the wall.
"What's the hold up?! Everyone move inside so we can finish registration and lock you all up for good!" one of the guards screamed in the back of Naruto's ear. Naruto's ear rung from the volume of the guard's voice. He started thinking that he might have tinnitus. Everyone followed the guards command a couple seconds after the yell though.
Once inside the rest of the guard detail walked in afterwards. The same two guards that unlocked the outside door now made their way over to the cell doors and used a different key to unlock them. Naruto started to pay closer attention to these two guards now. They must be the key masters of this joint. If he wanted to sneak around freely he would have to somehow swipe the key ring from one of these two guards. With a distinct metal clink, the cell doors opened and they prisoners were all filed into one of the cells.
After everyone had made their way into the cell Mui appeared in the doorway. He cleared his throat and began, "This process will only take a couple minutes if you cooperate. If you do not cooperate I do not mind persuading you to work with us." The way Mui said 'persuade' made everyone shiver and the dark grin that accompanied the sentence just put everyone on edge. "We will take you one by one into the processing room, register you in our system, confiscate anything you have on your persons right now, and then show you to your new home for the foreseeable future." Mui ended his statement abruptly and glanced down towards the clipboard in his hand. "Masahiro Asaki, you are first!"
That's how it went for the next 30 minutes. Naruto was able to grab a spot on one of the few benches scattered across the cell. He had closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. This was just disguise though. Naruto was sensing what was going on around him throughout the cell. He wanted to try and find his ally as inconspicuously as possible. His plan changed though when another inmate claimed the empty seat to the left him on the bench.
Naruto cracked open his left eye to evaluate them. They were smaller than him in height and weight. They were fair skinned and had white-grey hair that reached their lower back. Covering most of their hair on the top of their head was a green bandana. They wore a sleeveless kimono that covered a green top that was missing the right arm sleeve. Both of the arms of the inmate were bandaged from the wrists up to the elbows. They wore plain black pants that were tucked into their ninja sandals. It was hard for Naruto to get a read on the persons gender, He was unable to tell if they were a woman or just a very feminine man. Deciding to break the silence Naruto asked, "So, what are you in here for?"
Not bothering to look over to Naruto the stranger just responded while keeping their eyes forward. "The same as you." That's it. That was the signal phrase. So was this his partner or was it just a coincidence that they responded with that phrase? Taking the initiative Naruto asked them the second key identifiable question. "Are you guilty?" The seconds before they answered felt like years to Naruto. Finally, after a couple seconds that felt like a century Naruto heard, "The only guilty man in the Hidden Grass." He had found his partner for the mission.
-Until Next Time-
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