Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, would I?

Chapter Five

White Shadows

Kisame shut the large metal door, unsatisfied with the night's events. He could see Naruto out of the corner of his eye, lying on the dirt floor, surrounded by blood, unconscious.

He closed the door completely, placed Samehada next to the cell, and went down one of their many hallways. He walked aimlessly for a time, until he stopped dead in front of a worn wooden door.

A small smile crossed his lips. Here was the answer to his problem.

Sakura walked down the bleached halls, passing countless identical white doors, gazing at each number that was etched in. It took her a while, but she finally found the room she was looking for.

She knocked quietly, and poked her head in. Sai was up, out of bed, sitting on the windowsill, sketchbook in hand. He looked up at her as she came in and sat on the freshly made, colorless sheets.

"So," she said. "How are you feeling?"

He said nothing, but looked back down at his work. He held up his book and looked back at Sakura. "What do you make of this?" he asked.

She glanced at his drawing. It was really quite accomplished. It was the view of the Hokage's tower from the hospital, with every detail sketched in, every shadow in the right place. The stone faces were in the background, their expressions just right. Even the odd bird in the sky was placed in his illustration, looking very tiny compared to the rest.

"Pretty good," she said simply.

Sai smiled---but by now, Sakura knew every smile was fake.

She sighed, and Sai turned back to the window. "How's the search going?" he asked casually.

She looked up in surprise. She didn't think he ever really cared about what happened to Naruto, one way or the other.

"Not so great," she replied miserably. "There's still no news."

"Well, they'll eventually see he has no----"

"Sai!"

His comment was interrupted by Yamato, who came into the room.

"You're…..err…..wanted," he said, glancing at Sakura hesitantly.

Sai nodded, hopped down from the windowsill, and quickly walked out the door.

"Is he really alright?" she asked Yamato worriedly.

But, to her surprise, he laughed. "Yeah," he said. "He'll be fine. He's a tough kid."

Sakura seemed unconvinced. "So, anything yet on your friend?"

She looked up again, this time surprised by his honest curiosity.

"No," she mumbled, looking away. "Not yet."

"Well, don't worry so much. He's a tough kid, too."

Sakura was stunned. He had never heard Yamato praise Naruto in any way before. But when she turned to say something, he was gone.

He strolled down the familiar hallway, staring at the bare wooden walls, cracked with age, but not really seeing them. One light bulb hung from the ceiling, its dusty form giving off an eerie reddish glow, casting odd looking shadows that jumped out at him as he rounded the corner. The floor beneath his feet was smooth and fairly clean, for people rarely walked this way. There was only one room, with the occupant long since deceased. That's why he was so surprised to see that the door to that very room was open.

Tobi peeked into the bedroom. It was dark, and already a thin layer of dust was beginning to cover the objects inside it. There was a bed, littered with all kinds of blueprints for various devices and puppets. A large desk was off to the right, with different vials and containers scattered across it. The wooden floor was, at one point, bare, but now it was covered in papers, parts, and all kinds of different things. There was only one picture, on the drawer beside the bed. It was of a young couple; a red haired man, and a dark haired woman, holding a baby in her slender arms.

Tobi's gaze wandered to the tall figure crouched down on the floor, rummaging through some old cabinets.

"You know, I don't think Sasori-sempai would like it if he knew you were in his room," Tobi said.

The figure sprang up in surprise. "Shit, Tobi! Don't do that!" Kisame glared at him for a minute, then bent down again and continued to search through the cupboards.

Tobi leaned against the door frame. "So, what exactly are you doing?"

Kisame sighed, realizing Tobi wasn't going to just go away. "If you must know, I'm looking for Sasori's poisons."

"Poisons?" Tobi repeated. "Why?"

"None of your fricken' business!" Kisame snapped. "Ah ha!" He straightened up, holding a small bottle with a light colored liquid. On it was a label, written in elegant, flowing script that said Jinchūriki only, and underneath that, another label that said Kyuubi. He smiled, satisfied with his find.

"What? What is it?" Tobi bounced over to Kisame to see what it was, but Kisame held up his hands.

"Hey, hey! I'll tell you, just calm down, ok?" He looked around quickly. "You know I'm not really supposed to be here."

Tobi nodded quickly. "Ok well, you know how the Kyuubi has this weird healing power?"

He nodded again.

"Well, whenever I hit the boy---

"Naruto."

Kisame stared at Tobi. "What?"

"The 'boy'. His name is Naruto."

Kisame sighed loudly. "Whatever. Anyway, his wounds would start to heal automatically. That really bugged me. So I thought; what if something could stop that?

"Then I remember Sasori's poison storage."

Tobi gasped. "So you thought….."

"That maybe Sasori made a poison to counter the Kyuubi's 'abilities'," Kisame finished.

Tobi whistled quietly. "Did he?"

Kisame held up the vial triumphantly. "Yep."

"But, what is it?" Tobi asked, leaning in to get a closer look.

"How the hell should I know? I'm just hoping it'll do the job. Now I just need to see if he left some instructions or something. He's so damn disorganized!" Kisame shook his head in exasperation. "I can't find anything!"

"Well, I hope you don't get struck by lightening or something for going through Sasori-sempai's stuff." With that, Tobi turned and left.

Kisame scoffed, and knelt down to continue his search. Struck by lightening, yeah right, he thought.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when there was a loud crack outside, followed by a brilliant flash of light, illuminating the abandoned room.

Kisame jumped, and whipped his head around to glare out the window, heart racing. Down the hall, he could hear Tobi's loud, crazy laughter.

"I told you so, didn't I?" Tobi yelled, still laughing.

Kisame grit his teeth together. "I hate that kid so much."

Sorry about the rather long wait! Updates will be slow, due to school, and slower if I don't get any reviews!

Anyways, I guess you could call this chapter the comic-relief-filler-chapter. I know, I know, I'm sorry! Next chapter will be...not so fillerish

So, reviews appreicated! Constructive criticism encouraged!

SNK