A/N: Most of this I planned to include in Chapter Thirteen, but the fight scenes took up more space than planned. Not that it matters, right? I got an evil cliffhanger out there for you and you're still going to read this part anyway, so it's all good. At least, I think it's all good... (hides from cliffhanger-haters with knives)
Chapter Fourteen: The Enigma of Sasuke
Jiraiya had not expected to fight this hard merely to keep one opponent in place. Shino's bugs had been cleaning his body of the nerve-disrupting poison for the whole five or six minutes of the struggle, but they had not done it fast enough; while they had been working, he had been forced to expend a great deal of chakra that he would normally be able to save in keeping Kouhei trapped. Now, he was running completely out of steam.
He had never, ever expected to die by anyone's hand but Tsunade's, or maybe even Orochimaru's. This wind master, whom he had fought before and bested, was definitely not either of the other Sannin, and was not even on the same level. However, first with Jiraiya's weakness and now with his lack of chakra, Kouhei's level was more than enough to overpower him. The unexpected was becoming the reality.
The famed Gama-Sennin was willing to accept that fact. He had lived a decent life. Sure, it had been shorter than he had planned, and there was much more he wanted to do in life, but he felt it wouldn't be too bad to move to the next world at this point. After all, it was a lot better than the hell he was enduring right now. This green valley wasn't a bad place to die, either.
Despite his having come to terms with this unexpected turn of events, it would be some time before he believed the story of the events that transpired after he lost consciousness.
Out of chakra and out of breath, the mighty Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin collapsed to the ground, unseeing, unhearing, and unfeeling. His Yomi Numa jutsu lost its strength immediately, and Kouhei's intense whirlwind gained the upper hand, freeing the wind master from his imprisonment. Kouhei regarded his fallen enemy with a mixture of triumph and respect on his pale, seraphic face. He would remember this battle for as long as he lived.
Although, if he did not finish the operation quickly and remove himself from the combat zone, he might not live very long at all. The lights and the noise should have alerted the enemy to the battle by now, and the battle had stretched several long minutes already, longer than they had originally planned. If the Hyuuga jounin and his companions returned to the camp—and they ought to be soon—Kouhei doubted that he would have the strength to fend them off; Jiraiya's tenacity had surprised him, and he had ended up using a good two-thirds or more of his chakra. Even now, his body felt heavier than normal and his senses were blunted.
They were not blunted enough to prevent him from finishing the job, however. Stepping out of the tiny swamp that had held him, the blue-robed wind master looked across the camp to where his subordinates were fighting. Ayaka and her opponent were hidden beyond a bamboo wall, but he saw Hikaru perched atop the target in glorious victory, a kunai at the girl's throat. No doubt he was planning to kill the girl in spite of their orders—Kouhei would have to alter his thinking before the prize was damaged. Brushing himself off, he started towards Hikaru, intent on ending the operation before reinforcements could arrive.
Unfortunately for him, he had played with Jiraiya just a little bit too long. Without warning, something long and serpentine had crept up behind him and was now suddenly wrapped around his throat. Kouhei's hands went immediately to his throat, trying to dislodge the thing, but snapped instantly away again as they met with incredible heat. The thing that was choking him was burning!
How could this have happened? Who could have surprised him, he who had defeated Jiraiya of the Sannin? Who was skilled enough, sneaky enough, who sought his demise? Certainly not Uzumaki Naruto or Haruno Sakura; they were capable in the stealth department as any journeyman-level ninja, but Kouhei was an elite. Hyuuga Neji, then? It was possible, but Kouhei had never heard of a Hyuuga using such a technique...
The wind master turned around, looking for the source of the sudden attack, and came face-to-face with a young man. Apart from the flaming serpent that protruded from his open mouth, the young man had dark hair, pale skin, a tall, muscular frame, and red eyes, each one with three black tomoe marks surrounding the iris. Those eyes looked straight into Kouhei with clear contempt and an even clearer intent to kill. Kouhei realized that he was dealing with a natural born killer, one that neither the compassion nor the mercy that his companions did.
He fought, but could not win. Most of his energy had gone into the fight against Jiraiya, and though he strained at the fiery noose at his neck with his hands, the terrible red eyes stared into him, captivating him. In them, he saw himself suffering in the eternal flames of hell as red-eyed demons stood around him, burning with him and at the same time laughing at him. He wondered if this was some kind of genjutsu or merely the mental impression forced into his mind by the raw killing intent that the youth was pouring at him.
When Kouhei looked at Uchiha Sasuke, he saw his own death. The realization dawned on him as he was engulfed in the burning cold Sharingan, and he found himself doing what he had not done since he was old enough to hold a kunai: he screamed. It was a scream of many things; of denial, of anger, of disbelief, of pain, of surprise. The fact that he had not foreseen this made it even more difficult. After all, who would think that the infamous traitor from Konoha would actually come to save those who had imprisoned him?
The wind master, by a stroke of merciful fate, was not made to anguish long. The blazing noose gave one final squeeze, burning through the last of the flesh of his neck and snapping the vertebrae. Kouhei's head fell with a soft thud to the valley floor at Sasuke's feet. No blood came forth from either the head or the neck that it had been severed from, for the searing fire of the serpent had cauterized both loose ends, sealing them up into clean, smoking pieces with no mess at all. The body remained standing for several seconds, its blue robe fluttering slightly in the breeze. Then, with the same grace with which it had moved in life, it toppled over backward, clearing the way for Sasuke to move forward.
Towards Hikaru and Hinata.
The straw-haired Cloud nin looked pale as death. He wanted to disbelieve everything that he had just seen. Nobody can just waltz in and kill Kouhei, he rationalized. Nobody can do that! Yet the terrible reality of the Sharingan eyes and the murder that was visible in them swept away all his denial. Kouhei was dead, and he was about to be the next victim. He sat paralyzed on top of his forgotten target, and cowered in the face of death.
"Na... no... no way!" he yelled, struggling to push the words out through fear. "Wh-whaddaya want with us? Aren't you su-supposed to be their enemy?"
Hinata was also watching, with much the same question in her mind. She remembered the power that the Uchiha traitor had fought her and Naruto with, mere weeks ago. Though the two of them had defeated Sasuke then, they had not inflicted any lasting damage, and now—as evidenced by his seemingly effortless defeat of the powerful Kouhei—he had recovered his strength. The Hyuuga girl's Byakugan withdrew as if in fear of its life, leaving the white eyes to stare helplessly at the slowly advancing Uchiha menace. Would he now take his revenge for the shame she had given him?
Sasuke surprised both captor and captive by saying, in a low, commanding voice layered with death, "Get off of her." He stopped walking just a few meters away from them, waiting for a response.
Hikaru was stunned, and Hinata looked at Sasuke as though he had just handed his old friend Naruto a heaping pile of ramen. He wasn't going to just kill all of them? What was going on?
"Huh?" was all that Hikaru managed to say.
Wrong answer. The Lightning nin suddenly found himself with a massive, bloody hole in his upper left arm. It happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that not even Hinata had seen Sasuke charge, flip rapidly through the seals for Chidori, and plunge his hand into Hikaru; all she had seen was a dark blur, and the unfortunate Cloud nin had seen nothing at all, as was Sasuke's intent. It took a short moment for him to register the pain, and then Hikaru was gasping silently in agony, so hurt and afraid that no sound could make its way out of him.
Hinata watched the scene unfold with a mixture of fear, disgust, and wonder. Sasuke pulled his hand out of the victim's arm, staring down at him without remorse or pity. "Get off of her," he said again. His red eyes flashed, and fear held Hikaru motionless, dripping blood down onto Hinata's face, head, and shoulders. Though Sasuke still held the crackling white Chidori in front of him as though holding a glass of wine, relaxed and terribly confident, the bleeding Cloud nin still would not move.
Someone, however, did. A long vine flew forth and wrapped tightly around Hikaru's torso, then snapped taut and heaved him away towards the nearby wall of bamboo. Ayaka caught her teammate there, releasing the vine that protruded from her sleeve and letting it fall limply to the ground below. Hinata stood up to get a better look at her. The enemy plant user was immensely changed from the last time Hinata had seen her; she was without her cloak, exposing a body that would have given the Hyuuga girl a run for her money, and her normally emotionless face was tinted with a noticeable, if minuscule, expression of fear and awe.
"We retreat from a foe much mightier than ourselves!" she cried, as though such words might stir sympathy in the Uchiha traitor's heart.
While they might not have had that particular effect, Sasuke did allow her to flee into the trees, carrying the wounded Hikaru with her. In fact, he did not even seem to notice anything except that his demand that Hikaru remove himself from Hinata was met. His cold gaze was on her now, catching her attention and demanding obedience. He released his Chidori and pulled something out of his shirt and held it clenched in his fist.
"Give this to Kiba," he said, tossing it to her. Hinata climbed to her knees and caught it, opening her palm to see what it was. She was startled to find herself holding a soldier pill. Where had he gotten that? She could only think that he had taken one from their packs when Neji had not been watching him. But then, why give it to his captors?
She stood up, opening her mouth to try and ask him, but Sasuke had already turned his back and was walking away. The words died in her throat as he reached the tents, disappearing into one of them without saying another thing. Confusion entered Hinata's mind. What on earth...?
A loud cough followed by a groan of pain distracted her, relieving her of her worries for a moment. Kiba had regained his consciousness and was now struggling to push himself up onto his hands and knees. The burns on his hands and face and chest were red and blistered in places, and he was gritting his teeth against the intense agony that Hinata knew must be plaguing him. Forgetting Sasuke temporarily, she ran to help her teammate. Supporting him gently with both arms, she helped him to sit up without aggravating his injuries.
"Kiba-kun, save your strength," she said, holding out the pill. "Take this..."
"Where is that bastard?" Kiba growled. He snatched up the offered medicine. "I've still got some fight in me. I'll rip him in half..."
"It's a little late for that," said Sasuke as he emerged from the tent. He had a pack slung over his shoulders, and judging by how thick it was, Hinata thought he must have had a single day's worth of supplies inside.
Kiba saw him, too. "What the?" he said, befuddled to see the traitor loose with their stuff. "Hey, where the hell do you think you're going, huh? Not running off to your friends in that dirt hole down there, are you?"
Sasuke secured the straps of the pack tighter and turned his back. He stood still, as though daring Kiba to come after him. "Are you going to stop me if you don't like my answer, Kiba?"
That shut the wild ninja up. Kiba had heard all about the previous battle with the traitor from Hinata; in his current state, or even possibly his normal state, the chances of him catching and holding Sasuke were slim to none. He could only hope that Naruto and the others returned soon enough to mount a decent pursuit. Damn it, he said to himself, I hate being so damned powerless...
"Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked, sensing his anger. She gripped him a little more firmly, hoping that he wouldn't do something drastic.
"Grrr... damn," he grunted. "I guess this is our limit. We'll have to let him go, and hope Naruto runs into him."
Sasuke seemed to hear him, for his head shifted slightly, half-nodding. It looked like he was going to return the favor and let Kiba go, too.
"Tell Naruto," he said by way of farewell, "He's late." Then he vanished into the night, leaving Hinata and Kiba to contemplate the miracle of their survival.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Ayaka fled far, far away from the ruined camp with Hikaru over her shoulder, putting as much distance between themselves and Kouhei's killer as possible. The fear of death gripped her still, though she was reasonably sure that the powerful enemy had not decided to follow them. What an unexpected development that had been!
We were told that the Uchiha was a prisoner of these Konoha shinobi, she recalled, not an ally. If he were to become involved in our conflict at all, we were told to expect him to fight on our side, or at least to attack both sides indiscriminately. Had this been a ploy, some trick of theirs to use as a last resort? No, it couldn't have; the expressions on their faces were of genuine shock and awe, unless they were better actors than she gave them credit for. Even the Aburame...
Aburame Shino. The one she had pursued so fervently in this mission, the one she had wanted so badly to fight and kill for the sake of honor and retribution, had been defeated... and then she had been forced to abandon the kill. Now, because her team had just lost its most powerful asset and the enemy had gained a new ally, there would be no second attempt. The mission to capture Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto, along with her personal ambitions, had ended in shocking failure. Ayaka fought back bitterness within her. Was her vengeance simply not meant to come to be?
"Ughn... Ayaka-chan..."
And then there was this fool to deal with, as if she hadn't enough disappointment on her plate. She came to a stop in a more heavily wooded part of the valley, hiding herself and Hikaru in the branch of a tall, leafy tree. There she laid him out on his back examining the wound.
Unfortunately, he picked this moment to come to his senses. "Wah!" he exclaimed, his eyes regaining their focus. "My arm!! What the hell did that red-eyed freak do to my arm?!"
"Shut up, Hikaru," Ayaka said. Her voice was subdued, reflecting her mood and the sense of defeat that weighed heavily on her. She robotically removed a roll of bandages from the pouch on her waist and started bandaging the wound with leaden fingers.
Of course, the annoying straw-haired teammate did anything but shut up. "Ayaka-chan," he asked, "Where's your cloak? That Shino guy didn't pull it off and try making any moves, did he? Not that I mind the view..."
Lacking her cloak, most of Ayaka's seeds were gone, and she would have to use the emergency set that she kept in her shirt to cultivate a new stock of them. She could not afford to waste them in punishing Hikaru for his insolence. Luckily, she still had her hands, and the palm-print left on the boy's face a moment later was large and red enough to be satisfactory.
Hikaru, finally catching on to her sour mood, ceased his antics and let her finish bandaging his arm. That limb would be useless for a long time, he realized. There was no need to have her break it for him. Instead, he occupied himself by seething with slow anger and shame at the situation.
"They really did us in," he said. "Didn't they?"
"Yes," Ayaka said, this time not arguing. "This mission has failed. When you have recovered somewhat, we will make our way back to Kumogakure. I expect you to follow me quietly and unquestioningly—there will be no revenge for you now, understood?"
Hikaru glared at her in a hurt way for a moment, but eventually heaved a sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I understand," he said. "I want to go back there and kill those guys real badly, but there's no way that we possibly can, now that Kouhei is gone and they've got that monster on their side..." He gave a small shudder, then winced in pain as the vibration agitated his arm wound. "I guess I'll just have to get used to being a loser laughingstock for now. But this ain't over between me and that Hyuuga bitch, not by a long shot..."
"Indeed, it is not."
Ayaka and Hikaru both looked upward, where they heard the voice interject from. There stood a man in black and white traditional robes. He had dark hair and brilliant silver eyes.
"Hiroto-sama," said Ayaka. The subdued tone left her voice; though she was cool-headed as normal, she was not without anger towards the client that had misinformed them. It was because of him that Kouhei had fallen and left them alone in the face of the Uchiha monster. "With all due respect, there is nothing more that we can do. Kouhei is dead, I am without most of my plants, and Hikaru is seriously injured. We apologize, but the mission has failed. Kumogakure will compen..."
"The mission will continue," Hiroto said, a stern look on his face. "Stop cowering like worms. Uchiha Sasuke is an associate of Orochimaru, the same as I. Everything that has taken place has done so according to our design..."
"Oh, so killing Kouhei was all just part of your happy little plan, was it?" Hikaru asked, taken by a sudden fury. "Our teammate was just a pawn in your big game? How are we supposed to accept that load of bullsh..."
Hikaru was cut off for the second time that night by an opponent charging at unknowable speed. He yelped in pain as he was slammed up against the trunk of the tree, and blood began to soak his bandages more heavily.
"It would seem as though you do not quite understand me," said Hiroto, his expression halfway between a grin and a snarl. Hikaru found himself wishing that the higher-ups had killed this Hyuuga rather than opting to work with him. It was ironic, in a way; when Hiroto had first proposed the mission, Hikaru had been the first to bite at the hook. He was deeply regretting his earlier enthusiasm now.
"N-no..." he grunted through the pressure of Hiroto's palm on his chest. "I... understand perfectly... sir!"
"Is that so?" Hiroto said, fixing him maliciously in his Byakugan gaze. Hikaru gulped down fear.
Ayaka stood by, unable to do anything. She felt somewhat badly for her teammate—a rarity for her—but this was the mission client. Despite him being a Hyuuga, the Raikage had approved working with him and had given explicit instructions not to harm him.
Still...
"Hiroto-sama," she asked, "How may we be serve you effectively in this condition?"
The traitor Hyuuga released Hikaru, allowing him to fall painfully back onto the branch. He turned to Ayaka, a look of smugness on his face.
"Orochimaru will provide your friend with medical attention, and a place where you may re-cultivate your weapons. I will take you there now, and then we will discuss plans for the final confrontation..."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"What the heck is all that light?" Naruto wondered aloud. He was looking ahead into the distance, where the team's camp was supposed to be. "That's definitely not fire."
"You're right, Naruto," Sakura agreed. "It looks like electric light..."
"It is neither," Neji stated. His Byakugan was active, as it had been since they had seen the enormous flash of cylindrical lightning and heard the booming thunder that followed closely after. Thinking that the others had fallen under siege, they had increased their speed, running at breakneck speed back toward the camp. It had been four minutes since that great flash, but much could happen between shinobi in four minutes. Now, less than a minute away from the camp, they were praying that everyone was all right.
"Neither one?" Naruto asked. "Then what is it? What can you see, Neji?"
"It's difficult to make out a source," came Neji's reply, "But whatever it is was planted in the trees and the brush. Most likely, it is one of the creations of the Cloud shinobi, Ayaka."
"Her?" Sakura said incredulously, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "I still have a score to settle with her. If she's done anything to Hinata this time..."
"I'll beat her to a bloody pulp," Naruto finished. His face had been one of confusion and worry, but now was set in grim determination.
Sakura smiled a moment, and then matched his expression with her own. "And I'll be right there with you," she said.
Then she thought she caught sight of something passing them by. It was fleeting and very vague; just a dark shape flitting through the night. What was that? Was it the enemy retreating? Why only one of them?
"Get ready, both of you," Neji ordered, stopping her wondering. "We might be about to enter a combat area. Be prepared for anything."
The next second, the three of them entered the light of the camp, all eyes peeled and ready for danger. They found no battle facing them, however; only the aftermath greeted them. And what an aftermath! There were gouges and claw marks in the ground, dust scattered in the air, and a patch of ground that looked like it had been temporarily turned into a geyser. Beyond that, they could see a large circular crater, presumably where the huge pillar of lightning had struck, and a solid wall of tall, thick stalks of what looked like bamboo. And huddled in a tired, ragged group near the tents...
"Hinata!!" Naruto yelled, spotting her and the others. Sakura followed him toward them, retrieving her medical pack, while Neji continued to survey the area. "Kiba, Shino, Ero-Sennin... What happened?!"
"A lot," Kiba grunted. "No, Sakura, not me. Akamaru first..." The dog was propped up, unconscious against Kiba and Shino's tent. He was more badly burned than his master, and his fur was singed so badly in some parts that it had turned jet black. Sakura gave a nod, and went to tend the big dog.
"'A lot,' huh?" Naruto said. "What do you mean by that? Hinata, what the hell happened here? You're okay, right?" He grabbed the midnight-haired Hyuuga gently by the shoulders and stared intently at her dirt-smudged face.
Hinata smiled, trying to give an impression of fortitude and strength for him. "I'm fine, Naruto-kun. I was the one who was least hurt. But, Sasu..."
"The enemies from the Cloud took advantage of your absence and attacked us," Shino interrupted. He sat on a charred log that he had commandeered from the remains of the campfire. He wore his sunglasses, but the hood of his jacket was down and he had his bugs crawling all over him, which creeped Naruto out and caused him to recoil from the bug user for a short moment.
When the blond recovered himself, he asked further questions. "So those three guys did all this?"
"Yeah," Kiba confirmed. "They got us completely by surprise."
"Really?" Sakura asked. "But, Jiraiya-sama should have been able to..."
"The plant-nin, Ayaka, attacked Jiraiya-sama with the same poison that she used to kill my insects," Shino continued. "The lights were also her doing, placed to allow her teammate to use his jutsu to hide within the light. When Jiraiya appeared in his weakness, we had only a moment to prepare before the attack came. The enemy leader fought Jiraya personally. The plant-nin trapped me away from the others and fought me one-to-one. The one hiding in the light fought Hinata and Kiba."
Naruto let out a huge sigh of relief. So it had been what they'd expected after all, nothing worth worrying about. Sakura would patch up the wounded and everything would be all right. "So, you guys beat 'em, huh? I knew the Cloud were a bunch of pansies. All that hiding and sneaking around, and they still couldn't win... I almost pity 'em!"
The orange-clad ninja was surprised to see that his friends did not share his relief. Shino inclined his head towards the ground slightly, and Kiba took on an angry look, staring off into the night. Naruto was dumbstruck, and turned to Hinata for reassurance. None was there; her eyes were averted as though in shame and—dare he even think it?—apology.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," she began, causing the boy to go pale.
"Wha... what do you mean?" Naruto asked, the worry returning to his countenance.
"All of us, Jiraiya-sama included," Shino said, "Were defeated."
This declaration turned even Neji's head. The team leader came walking briskly over to them, anxious to hear the rest of the report. "How did you survive, Shino?" he asked. Then, on an afterthought: "Where is Uchiha? I do not see him nearby or in any of the tents."
"Sasuke?" Naruto echoed. He didn't want to believe it, and yet he was certain that he was about to hear it.
"Uchiha Sasuke took advantage of the enemy's fatigue, and defeated two of them," Shino reported. "He then retrieved one day's worth of food supplies and left the area. You arrived approximately one minute after he escaped."
"One... one minute?" Sakura asked. Suddenly she thought she knew what the dark shape she'd seen was.
Neji's first thoughts were different. "Uchiha Sasuke saved you from the enemy attack?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
"That is correct," Shino confirmed. The bugs crawling on his face and hands, cleaning off the last of the nerve poison, finished their task and withdrew back into the confines of their living hive. The hood of the jacket went back over the bug user's head. "And he said this: 'Tell Naruto he's late.'"
Naruto, who had been standing aghast since learning that Sasuke was gone, put his fist through the tent that he was standing next to. "Damn that guy!" he said. "I thought if I ignored him, he'd settle down, but now he's gone and done it. The moment I see him again, I'm gonna rip his head off!"
"If I may say so, Naruto," Shino said, "The next time you see him, you may not be seeing 'him' at all. You might be seeing Orochimaru instead."
Naruto began shaking in anger. "So what! I'm through trying to save his ungrateful ass. If he throws away his life that way, I couldn't care less; I'll take his head off anyway!"
"Naruto..." Sakura said softly, unhappy to see her teammate like this.
Hinata thought along the same lines, staring at him with a mixture of sadness and guilt, for if she had been more alert, this might not have happened. She kept quiet about it—she knew Naruto wouldn't accept her blaming herself for this—but in her own mind, she held onto an apology.
"That's enough of that," Neji said, taking charge. "What has been done cannot be changed. We need to adjust to this and carry out our mission like professional shinobi." Everyone turned their eyes toward him, each acknowledging his command grimly and silently.
"We are going to move the tents out of this unsafe area, and then we are going to rest until daybreak," he commanded. "Taking into account that Uchiha only stole one day of supplies and interpreting his message to Naruto another way, I am going to assume that Orochimaru is either already in the Grave or very near it. Therefore we will begin our mission at sunrise tomorrow, before the enemy can move again. Is that understood?"
Affirmations went around the whole group, minus the unconscious Jiraiya and Akamaru. Neji gave a nod of acknowledgment.
"Good," he said. "Sakura, you will stay with Jiraiya-sama and Kiba tonight. If they do not recover by morning, we will begin the mission without them."
"Hai, Neji-san."
"Shino, if you are well enough, I will ask you to stand watch for the first four hours tonight. Wake me when that time is over so that I can relieve you."
Shino nodded.
"Hinata-sama," Neji concluded, looking at his cousin with a weathered face, "Please remain with Naruto again tonight. Make sure that both of you get enough rest."
Hinata went from slightly sulky to slightly red as she hastened to comply to her leader's commands.
"Okay," Neji finished. "Get moving."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Little by little, Keisuke was beginning to feel stronger. There were advantages to being the offspring of a powerful demon, despite being created as a victim; the yellow-tinted, sickly-looking chakra that flowed in him had healing properties similar to those of the chakra of the Kyuubi that was sealed in Naruto. Granted, they were not nearly as strong as those of the Kyuubi, but they still resulted in regeneration that was faster than normal. Add to that Haruka's nursing—if you could call it nursing—and the lack of any new injury, and things were looking up rather quickly.
The Sadist had made herself useful in an interesting manner following her emotional episode. First, she had scrubbed (or attacked, depending on one's point of view) his open wounds with a strip of cloth torn from her sleeve as he lay flat, scrubbing at them vigorously until most of the dirt was removed from them. She had laughed almost maniacally when he commented on her rough methods, but rather than arguing over it, she had used a softer instrument to moisten and clean away the last vestiges of filth.
This last experience had certainly been much more enjoyable, if a little awkward in places. He'd heard the expression, "to lick one's wounds," but he had never seen it taken quite so literally. She had begun at his hands and arms, which wasn't terribly strange. After each cut had been cleaned to satisfaction, Haruka bandaged it with another strip of cloth torn from her clothing, and then moved onto the next injury. It was when this "cleaning" reached his legs, back, and chest and his partner grew increasingly less covered that he began to feel strange about the process, and was glad that nobody had walked into the room and seen them.
When it was finished, Keisuke found that his cuts were much more comfortable to move, and expressed his gratitude to his partner by staring with his new eyes at her new look. Her sleeves were completely gone, as were much of her pants, which were now roughly cut off at the middle of her thighs. In addition, some strips had been torn from the lower part and neck of her shirt, exposing a great deal of her torso. The once-blind man, hopelessly enthralled by his newfound vision, stared shamelessly at the wealth of bare skin that knelt next to him.
"Having fun, pervert?" Haruka said, noting the attention. Keisuke yanked his eyes away from her cleavage to her face, embarrassment turning him an interesting color. Haruka grinned evilly at him, apparently not bothered by the attention, but Keisuke had the feeling that she was going to be blackmailing him with it later.
"Not as much fun as you're going to be having once we're out of here, I expect," he answered. He was not surprised to see her smile widen. "Speaking of which, have you got any ideas yet?"
Haruka's grin faded some at this. "Not yet, sukebe-Keisuke. I don't think we'd get very far if we did, though; you're getting better, but push yourself too hard and you'll end up moaning on your back again. You know I'd have to give you an ass-kicking if you drag me down that way."
Keisuke's turn to smile came as he recalled the "ass-kicking" he'd received the first time around. If it weren't for the other, more serious consequences of getting re-injured and stuck here longer, he might actually consider it. "All right, then," he said, "Let's sleep on it. Hopefully I'll recover some more by morning and one of us will have some kind of idea."
Nodding in agreement, Haruka lay down by his side. "No fooling around, either," she warned mischievously. "In your state, you might not survive trying to keep up with me."
Though he might have taken the time to come up with a witty retort, Keisuke was tired and needed his sleep, so he elected to simply give a little chuckle and close his eyes. He felt his partner make herself comfortable, nestling against him in the cold and dark stone chamber. Surprisingly, he found the feel of her smooth skin on his to be even more pleasant than the sight of it. Ah, that's just the sensate focus that comes from being blind all your life, he thought to himself.
But as he lay in the dark and listened to Haruka's soft breathing and strong heartbeat, he found his thoughts turning less pleasant and more predicament-oriented. In particular, he thought about the change in care that his host had made when Haruka had been brought here.
He could explain the lack of continued experimentation and mind-torture. Since Orochimaru had, by his own admission, failed to get what it was he wanted out of Keisuke, and so there had been no more reason for the abominable tests. The dream torture had ceased because Keisuke had already survived the worst times of his life, and therefore there was no point in further treatment. There was no need to torture him physically, either; he had proven himself able to endure the worst physical pain twice over.
Yet there were things about Orochimaru's hospitality that were unexplained, the biggest of which was the implantation of functional eyes into Keisuke's formerly-empty sockets. So far, this had yielded nothing but good for Keisuke, which surely could not be his intent in the long run. Did the snake Sannin intend to make good on his long-ago desire to find out if blind people suffered more pain than people with sight? Somehow, Keisuke did not think that this was it.
And also, why let Haruka continue to stay with him? What purpose did that serve for Orochimaru, other than to make Hiroto stop complaining about how painful it was to deal with her? Like the eyes, she had only been a help to him, speeding up his recovery and helping to soothe his tortured mind. There was definitely something amiss in here, and Keisuke could not sleep for thinking too hard.
As if on queue, the door to the cell suddenly opened with a creak, causing him to open his eyes and Haruka to pull herself upright. Aha, Keisuke thought, perhaps now some light will be shed on this? He strained his ears waiting for the person who entered to speak, hoping that he would recognize Orochimaru or Kabuto's voice.
The look on Haruka's face, however, told him that he wasn't going to. She did not show any signs of recognizing this person, who had dark eyes, and a tall frame, who was wearing full-length black shinobi battle-gear and a black mask carrying a large satchel. Yet, strangely, there was no question in this young man's face that he knew who they were. And the confident, terrible, dark power that Keisuke could feel in his aura suggested that he could give a damn about what they thought of him.
"Who the hell are you, kid?" Haruka asked bluntly. "A flunky errand boy? Tell Orochimaru to get us some cleaner water in here, the stuff we have tastes like sewage."
If the dark young man was amused by this, he did not show it. He stared blankly at Haruka as though contemplating what to make of her. This annoyed her, and she glared challengingly him. Keisuke thought he could see why; she'd been locked up a while, and was itching for a good fight.
"Well?" she growled after a moment of silence. "Are you going to get that water or just stare at me all night long? One pervert is enough for my satisfaction, thank you."
The boy remained motionless for another moment, and seemed to be considering something. However, this time he finally chose to react, reaching into the satchel and drawing forth a canteen, which he tossed to Haruka without a word.
"Thank the gods," Haruka said, uncapping it and taking a swig without bothering to test for poison. It was good water, however, and she lowered it from her lips looking somewhat pleased. "Took you long enough," she said. "You wouldn't happen to have any food in there, would you?"
"What is it you came here for?" asked Keisuke, speaking for the first time. "Are you one of Orochimaru's people, here to take us to our next hell, or are you our ally? At least clear this up for us."
The dark man answered no questions, but reached into his satchel once again. When he withdrew his hand, he was holding a small pill box, which he tossed to Keisuke just as silently as he had tossed the water. Keisuke opened the box carefully, surprised to discover five pills neatly lined up and ready for consumption. One space, where a sixth pill would have been, was empty.
"I'm assuming these aren't poisoned, either?" Keisuke asked, once again getting no answer.
"No," Haruka said, spying them, "Those are soldier pills. They're supposed to increase your chakra, and it's said that a single one can enable a soldier to fight for three days and nights straight. Damn, I guess this guy isn't one of Orochimaru's guys after all. What else do you have in there, kid?"
Kid, as Keisuke named him in his head, was already taking out something else from the bag—a large, heavy-looking scroll that he hefted with surprising ease in one hand. Kid leaned that up against the wall of the chamber before plunging his hand in a fourth and final time, withdrawing something that Keisuke had not had the fortune to see but which made Haruka suppress a gasp. It was a finely sculpted figurine, which had the shape of a handsome man with spiked hair, wearing a long coat.
"Yondaime Hokage," Haruka breathed. "I remember this trinket... It was one of my last pranks on Naruto and Hinata."
"I'll ask which prank that was later," Keisuke said. "But more importantly, this means that he came from Naruto's group, or at least was sent by them."
"Well, I'll be damned," Haruka said. "Kid, you've redeemed yourself. Who are you, anyway? We're going to have you commended when we get home."
Keisuke thought that the young man would remain silent and either leave them or motion for them to follow. He turned out to be wrong; Kid spoke in a dark voice that expressed deep emotion and yet simultaneously expressed nothing at all.
"I do not think the chances of me being commended are very high, Hyuuga Haruka," he said. He turned and walked out of the cell, closing and locking the door behind him.
Keisuke wondered what Kid had meant by that, and also why he had left without taking them. Perhaps it was too dangerous for them to leave right now? Maybe it was impossible to slip past Orochimaru and his underlings in Keisuke's wounded state, and Kid would return after he had recovered some more?
That might have explained the medicine and the water, and the statuette was obviously for identification, but what was the scroll for? Keisuke crawled over to it, and began examining it thoroughly. He did not use his eyes, for he was still not used to them and knew they were prone to mistakes. Instead he felt the scroll with his fingers and his chakra, trying to determine its nature as he would in blindness.
His heart almost missed a beat as he realized what it was. This was a summoning contract! Where had Kid gotten his hands on one of these? Still it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth; if he was right, this thing could be a big help in their escape. Excited at the prospect, he turned to share the happy news with his partner...
Only to discover Haruka with her back pressed against the wall, Byakugan activated, staring through the solid cell door with an appalled look on her face.
"What the...? Haruka?"
"Kill me now," she said, "Before the poison starts working. If I'm going to die, I'm doing it on my own terms!"
"What poison?" Keisuke asked. "That guy was on our side, wasn't he?"
His confused expression turned to one of worry when he saw her turn towards him with mechanical slowness. Apparently, he had not been.
"The kid that was just in here," Haruka said, "Was with Naruto, but he's definitely not on our side. That was Uchiha Sasuke."
OoOoOoOo Sasuke-yose no Jutsu! End Chapter 14 oOoOoOoO
Next chapter: Neji's team prepares to enter the Grave despite major setbacks. What danger awaits them? What could the implications of Sasuke's actions be?