Well everyone here it is: the next chapter. I'm sorry it took longer than I thought to post, this past week has been crazy hectic and I didn't have time to finish it until yesterday. And I always walk away from it for at least a day before I edit and post. Yet again I thank you all for your reviews and anyone that is following this story. It makes my day to know that people are enjoying my writing.
Having said that the majority of this chapter is about the torture of a young girl, so if that is something you do not wish to read I would wait until the next Chapter, you will know what happens but without knowing her reactions to it.
Enjoy!
-UM
Where Loyalties Lie: Chapter 5
Naruto fought back the urge to scream as Mizuki carefully pressed the Kunai to her face, he was impossibly close to her now, so close that she could feel his warm breath against her cheek. His dull brown eyes bore into hers, promising excruciating pain, piercing blue eyes glared back with a challenge. Do your worst.
And he did.
Naruto felt that cut in every cell of her body, whatever purple liquid found it's home in that little glass jar was chaos. Her entire body ached, every muscle in her tiny frame clenched and by the time that Mizuki finished the three inch cut along her cheekbone, she was covered in a sheen of sweat.
"Now, Now, try not to struggle, yeah? We want this to be perfect, don't we?" Mizuki taunted her, his eyes filled with mirth.
Blood filled her mouth as she bit the inside of her lip to keep from screaming. She felt as a trickle of blood mixed with saliva spilled down her chin, Mizuki smiled, and gently wiped it clean with the pad of his thumb. Naruto watched as her Sensei brought the same thumb to his mouth and sucked it clean.
"You taste like fear little fox, go ahead and scream, yeah? The poison is working already, I know you feel it, be a good little demon and scream for Sensei."
She spit blood in his face.
He laughed then, it was loud but it was hollow, and he didn't wipe her blood from his face. That alone scared Naruto more than anything.
The Next cut, right under the last, was somehow so much worse. The first cut was the cool breeze that came into her window at night, it was cake on her birthday, it was laughing with Jiji. The first cut was a bowl of ramen. The second was fire in its most natural state it was pure, untamed, it was hell raging a war inside of her. Anarchy took over her body as two powers collided, the storm found deep inside welled up, wanting to claim her. She felt as her Chakra was suppressed, the calm was fighting against a power far greater than its own, and it was losing.
Her eyes snapped shut as she fought the battle going on in her body and soul, but the more she fought the more the fire was consuming her. She was vaguely aware that Mizuki, was still torturing her, she could feel the Kunai as he, with very slow and precise hands, cut into each cheek, but it wasn't Mizuki she was afraid of now, it was the storm. Terrified of what would happen if it took over, she ran, with the flame licking at her heals, she searched her mind for a way to keep control, she looked for anything that would help her calm the hell that threatened to spill over. She found a door. And she didn't hesitate to pull it open.
When Naruto's eyes opened it wasn't blue that looked back at Mizuki's brown, this time it was red. And it wasn't Naruto's voice that the kidnapper heard.
A deep, raspy voice echoed through the small room, "As much as I'd like to kill you now, I fear I must…Thank you, Mortal." Mizuki scrambled away from the girl, eyes that held so much hate a moment ago filled with pure terror.
"If you hadn't decided to act it would have taken me much longer to break into the girl's mind. And I was growing impatient." Mizuki let out a whimper from the corner he cowered in. A demonic laugh, coming from the bloodied girl on the floor filled the room, "But I have to wonder how a no-talent talking monkey had learned of the poison that can stop a Tailed Beast from taking over the vessel's body. I can't even heal the marks you left on her." The Kyuubi, sounding annoyed continued, "Had you not used this filthy poison you would be nothing more than a bloody smear on the floor."
The tiny blond girl, still wrapped in ninja wire lifted an ear to the ceiling as the sound of broken glass was heard above, "Well, at least I can watch as the one she calls Hound rips out your heart."
The ANBU Captain was terrified, until his clone dispersed itself he had no idea the circumstances of Naruto's disappearance. She could have been missing for days for all he knew, and that thought sickened him even more. Kakashi knew that he could get information from another ANBU, he felt their Chakra flares, but he knew at least one of his comrades were to blame for this, someone was on guard duty when she went missing, and he'd find out who. As soon as Naruto was safe. The ANBU searched her favorite hiding places, and one by one, when they turned up empty he felt any remaining hope be replaced by panic. He knew that the only ANBU she trusted was himself, she always had a huge smile on her face when she saw Hound, but she didn't come running this time, and he knew that she wouldn't, because he was certain now, the little blond girl wasn't hiding, she was taken. And Kakashi knew that if they didn't find Naruto soon they wouldn't be searching for a little blond girl, they'd be searching for a body.
Tremors racked the Captain's body as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Chakra exhaustion had already started to set in but he pushed his body harder, he ignored his blurred vision, the burning of his muscles, and the bile that threatened to escape. The only thought that Kakashi had was of finding his most precious person, his own body didn't matter, as long as she was missing he would search. The ANBU Captain stumbled as he received the memories from the clone he sent to talk with The Hokage. It had taken 37 minutes for them to figure out something useful, and less than a minute later Kakashi felt the pull of The Hokage's summon, but he resisted. Multiple Chakra signatures fluttered and were gone, the other ANBU making their way back to The Tower. Kakashi, a man that often toed the line of insubordination finally crossed it, and he couldn't bring himself to care about the consequences. All the ANBU Captain knew was that there was no way in hell he would leave Naruto alone a second longer and despite the fact that he knew he would probably be getting demoted, despite the fact that he knew that he was almost completely drained of Chakra, Kakashi Shunshined his way to the home of Mizuki.
At this point the ANBU was running on nothing but adrenaline and instinct, he wasn't conscious enough of his actions to even check if the window was unlocked before a Chakra fueled punch shattered the glass. The young Hatake was vaguely aware of the pain in his left hand as shards of glass imbedded themselves into his knuckles, not worrying about the blood he was losing, or his vision that blurred even worse, he searched the house until he found the basement door.
His keen sense of smell was assaulted as soon as he took one step into the basement, the combination of many different scents making him sneeze. The most noticeable was the smell of blood but there was something off about it, it was tangy and metallic but there was something sweet about it, sickeningly sweet, poison. Kakashi didn't even recognize the underlying scent of fear as he crashed down the stairs into the basement, but as he took in the scene before him he realized that the most potent scent, enough to make you gag, was not the scent of blood or poison, it was the smell of fear, Mizuki's fear, and the ANBU didn't understand why. He sought her out first, he almost sighed in relief when he realized that her eyes were open and she was laughing, but before the sigh could escape he realized that it wasn't her eyes looking at him, and it wasn't her laugh that rang in his ears. It was the Nine Tail's eyes staring up at him, the deep raspy chuckle was the Foxes laughter, and the voice that spoke was not the bubbly girl's but that of a demon.
"So nice of you to show up." The Kyuubi spoke to Kakashi, annoyance clear in his voice, "Now be a good monkey and kill the man cowering in the corner."
Kakashi couldn't even respond to the beast, he was too focused on the little blond girl that was tied up in ninja wire, he wanted to cut her loose but couldn't risk it, not with the fox obviously controlling her body.
The little girl sighed. "Listen Kakashi of the Sharingan, I will be retreating back to her mind shortly, and seeing as how this poison is making it impossible for me to tear this fool limb from bloody limb, I find that I must live vicariously through you at the moment, so if you would be so kind…" Crimson eyes flicked back and forth between the ANBU Captain and the Sensei, watching patiently as the man contemplated what the Kyuubi just said.
Kakashi nodded.
Blue and white flickers of light cast the room in odd colored shadows as the ANBU Captain brought his Chidori to life, chirping filled the small basement as he stalked towards his prey. Mizuki didn't notice the man walking towards him, his eyes still focusing on Naruto.
In one swift movement Kakashi picked the Academy Sensei up by the throat, brown eyes widened in fear when he realized what was happening, his hand tore through flesh and muscle, breaking ribs as the lightening shredded the man, but the Captain was searching for something specific, and when he found it he didn't hesitate to clamp down and forcefully remove it from the man's body.
Deep cackling filled the room as Mizuki's lifeless body hit the floor, The ANBU Captain tossed the still beating heart aside, his body swaying slightly as he turned to the little girl laying on the ground. The demon's laughter died down while he took the few steps to her side. Kneeling next to Naruto, Kakashi took in the damage done to his dead Sensei's daughter, there were three cuts decorating each cheek, all bleeding sluggishly. The ANBU Captain pulled out a strip of clean bandage, and an almost empty water bottle. As gently as his shaking hands could manage he cleaned the blood off of the tiny girl's face, he gasped in horror when he realized what Mizuki had done to her, he gave her whiskers.
"Her face will scar." The Nine Tailed Fox answered an unspoken question.
"You can heal her, why aren't you?" he asked the words that he meant to sound intimidating, only sounding tired.
"The poison. I am unaware of an antidote," The Kyuubi started, "but it will work itself out in two weeks, tell them this when you wake up."
Kakashi could feel the slight shift in the air when he nodded to The Fox, the Nine Tails had already begun drawing the demonic chakra back into her body. Not wanting to leave her tied up, The ANBU Captain slowly cut away the Ninja wire that bound her.
As his world began to spin grey eyes could no longer focus as the Chakra exhaustion that was pushed aside in his search, finally started to take over the young Jonin's body. He laid down next her then and as his mind slipped further into darkness he thought of her birthday, a bright eyed girl wearing a blue Kimono laughed, her face unmarred. And at that moment it didn't matter that he was dirty, sweaty, and covered in blood, she was safe, and underneath the two masks he wore, Kakashi smiled.
As the Hokage to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew that there were certain actions that were deemed inappropriate for someone of his position, however, knowing this didn't mean that he had to like it. The Sandaime was acutely aware that Mizuki should be apprehended, sent to the Torture and Interrogation Unit, judged and then (more than likely) sent to a high security prison. And if Kakashi hadn't shown up when he did this is what would have happened, which was completely unacceptable, according to the Hokage anyone that harmed a single blond hair on his Sunshine's head deserved death. Thankfully, Hatake Kakashi felt the same way, all the Hokage had to do was make sure that he gave the Captain enough time to handle the situation.
Three men and a young boy watched as their Hokage summoned the ANBU back into his office, one by one twelve ANBU Shunshined into the room, Hound not among them, which surprised no one but Iruka.
"Have our orders changed Hokage-sama?" a man with the mask of a dragon asked.
"Yes, we know the whereabouts of Uzumaki Naruto." There was a collective sigh of relief from the ANBU, all eager to stop the search for the girl, "Hare, Squirrel report to the Hospital tell them to be ready for anything. Cat, Hound- wait where is he?" Hiruzen feigned ignorance.
"It seems The Captain did not answer your summons, Hokage-sama." Sparrow commented, sounding equal parts sarcastic and disgusted.
"Perhaps Senpai found her location before your summons Hokage-sama, and was not able to leave her." Cat spoke up, easily catching on to the Hokage's game.
"Oh please." Sparrow started while rolling her eyes at the cat-masked ANBU, "You're only saying that because you idolize th-"
"Enough." The Sandaime commanded, interrupting his ANBU, "Cat you and I will go after Hound and Naruto, you are probably right in saying that he found her. The rest of you, back to your duties. Dismissed."
"But Hokage-sama shouldn't…" The ANBU let his question die off as the Hokage turned to him, annoyance clear in the old man's eyes.
"I said Dismissed."
"Aye Hokage-sama."
When the last of the ANBU left the office, the Sandaime sighed.
"Do you think you gave him enough time?" Shikaku asked, he too knew exactly what his superior was up to.
"I sure hope so Shikaku." Hiruzen turned to the Nara heir then, bowing slightly, "Thank you Shikamaru, we would have had no idea where to search without your help today."
The young boy nodded, "Can I ask you a question, Hokage-sama?"
"Of course."
"Well…I was wondering…would it be okay if I visited Naruto in the Hospital?" Shikamaru asked, quickly adding, "When she is feeling up to it, I mean."
"I think she'd like that, Shikamaru." Hiruzen answered, smiling at the boy, "In the meantime Shikaku, take your son home, I'll keep you both posted." Shikaku nodded and ushered his son towards the door. "Iruka, make your way to the hospital and wait for us there." Another nod.
"And Cat, it's about time you and I go find your Captain."
In the matter of minutes the office that had just held 16 men and one small boy was empty, a lone Kunai still lay forgotten on the floor.
So I originally wasn't going to write about her torture, the fox was going to draw her into her mind, making sure she felt no pain. But when the time came I couldn't write it. Nothing made sense. So this happened instead. After my husband read it he looked at me like I was crazy and said "You're good a writing creepy-as-fuck" Regardless of the creepiness I have a feeling that this incident will make her stronger in the end. Which is what I was going for anyway.
The next Chapter should be interesting, a new perspective is going to come into play, although I don't believe I'll be writing in that one often. Plus Naruto will be making a few new friends! I promise there will be some happier times before another tragedy hits!
As always thank you for reading, send me love or hate, let me know what you think! :)