Chapter 13 The Passage of Time
Ekima wrung the hem of her trench coat in her hands. She kept her gaze on the floor, next to her packed bag. I sighed.
"Stop that! You're gonna make me nervous too!"
She glanced up, then looked back down quickly. Her cheeks grew red.
"I-I'm sorry."
I pulled the two cords on my bag and the opening scrunched shut. I looked up at the ceiling.
"What's it like?" Ekima asked.
"Huh?"
"The outside."
"Oh." I stopped to think but I hadn't seen it myself in so long, I had nearly forgotten. "The sky is never the same, the shade and color I mean. Neither is the temperature. The smell depends on where you are and…tch, I really don't know how to describe it."
I took a deep breath.
"I don't think people really appreciate what's around them as much as they should."
I barley got the sentence out, when, like always, Mizuko burst into the room.
"Are you guys done yet?" She said impatiently. "It's time to go."
I nodded and slung my bag over my shoulder.
"Come one, Ekima-san."
She looked at me, then Mizuko, then the door.
"H-hai." She said slowly.
I followed Mizuko towards the hideout entrance. I counted about twelve other shinobi besides Ekima, Mizuko, Hiko, Yoshimitsu and myself. Up towards the front was Orochimaru, Kabuto and Sasuke. Sasuke looked away the moment I made eye contact. I smiled.
Orochimaru began to explain how we were to travel in groups to help avoid detection. It made sense, if we all traveled together, someone would obviously notice the suspicious behavior. We were to travel in groups of three. I was paired with Yoshimitsu and Ekima. We left the hideout at different times as well. Our turn came and we began to leave but Ekima made it to the stairs before she froze.
"Hey, come on." I said gently.
She looked at Yoshimitsu instead of me. He nodded and she continued up the stairs. I had been conscious when Kabuto had first brought me here but I wasn't all to surprised to find that the base was located in the middle of a forest. Theses trees grew so close together though, their branches reached out and tangled with one another. The only visible sunlight just barley squeezed through empty nooks in the canopies. The air was heavy with the smell of moist greenery and soil. I drunk in the scent. After being in the dark indoors for so long I found that seeing such a simple scene as this was like honey to my vision.
I turned back to Ekima. She was staring at the world around her, mouth agape and eyes the size of dinner plates. Every little detail fascinated her. Ekima eagerly ran her hands through the damp grass and dirt below her, as smile steadily forming on her face. A grin spread across my own face. See such a sight was like watching a fascinated child. Like a sponge, I could tell Ekima was taking every little detail in and storing somewhere in her mind. She was examining the bark of a tree when the magic of the moment was broken by the sound of Yoshimitsu's voice.
"Ekima, we need to get moving."
"But Yoshimitsu-kun…" She pleaded.
"Yoshimitsu-san, come on. Let her look around." I added.
Yoshimitsu looked me directly in the eye. " Karasu, we can't dawdle. I'm afraid she'll have to take in the sights as we move."
"Listen here-" I began.
"No it's okay!" Ekima said, touching my shoulder lightly. "We can go, it's okay."
"Ekima-san…"
I gave Yoshimitsu a glance then we continued on. I didn't know the way but Yoshimitsu obviously did. We traveled through the branches instead of the ground. Trees flew past for what seemed like hours. I looked around, but it wasn't the landscape that fascinated me.
"Don't." Yoshimitsu warned.
I looked over at him. "What?"
"I know what you're thinking." He said. "And I'm warning you, don't."
He looked at my upper arm, knowing what was underneath my sleeve. I looked away, letting the thoughts of escape dissolve.
We occasionally stopped to let Ekima marvel at certain wonders, things like a lake or a shrine. Eventually, I began to notice the trees thinning. It wasn't long before we broke though the leaves and I was blinded by the pure sunlight. When my eyes adjusted I found myself starring out at an open plain. The grass was the color of golden grain and only a few rocks were scattered here and there, along with some telephone poll like structures. Ekima marveled at these as we passed. Suddenly, she giggled.
"What?" I asked.
"Your hair is almost the same color as the grass." She said cheerfully.
I didn't find what was so funny but I still cracked a smile.
We traveled through more forests and even cities afterwards. Hours passed and the sun was begging to set. We had come to a barren and completely dead stretch of land. Any plant life was dead. Ekima examined this with a look of horror.
"Hey, Yoshimitsu-san!" I called. "how far away is this place?!"
He walked ahead and stopped to point. I ran up, only to realize we were on a ridge. My gaze followed where Yoshimitsu was pointing. I stepped back a bit. On the ground below was a enormous city. Modernized buildings were clustered together, windows lining each side. I could see doors boarded up, broken glass and wholes in the concrete walls. Some buildings had clothes hanging from the windows and balconies. In the center of all this was a skyscraper, with electric lines trailing down to the lower structures like vines. Seagull like birds flew through a sky filled with thick black clouds. Eerie, cold, wind whistled through the buildings and reached out to us.
"Orochimaru's hideouts are separated over great distances." Yoshimitsu explained. "If they were close to one another they'd be easy to locate."
I continued to stare at the wasted city.
"This place…it looks like…" I stopped.
Whether Yoshimitsu noticed or not, he didn't ask about my statement. But this city reminded me greatly of amegakure.
Ekima was fascinated by the buildings that towered over us as we walked through the streets. I occasionally saw a person stare out at us from dirty windows or dark alleyways. Everything was dirty and aged. What might of once been a prosperous city was nothing but a ruin.
Stopped at a large hotel like structure with a Japanese styled roof and overhang. A large sign above the entrance was labeled "Abandoned."
"Is this it?" I asked.
Yoshimitsu nodded.
"Geez, the guy could at least choose nicer places." I said.
The inside wasn't much better. The air was stifling, making it hard to breathe. The tunnels and hallways all looked the same. A tangle of cords and lines hung from the ceiling above us. This place looked like it shouldn't even be standing. Ekima and myself followed Yoshimitsu to an open room which, like the last hideout, was filled with tables that carried a strange assortment of items. Orochimaru was seated in a chair, Sasuke and Kabuto at his side.
"You're late." He said.
"We stopped for some breaks." Yoshimitsu lied, covering up the fact that we stopped for Ekima to explore.
Orochimaru stared at us, as if searching for something.
"I see." He said, finally. "Yoshimitsu-kun, please escort Karasu-hime and Ekima to their rooms. Put them on the same level as the other."
Yoshimitsu nodded and we left without another word. We followed the Hyuuga up a good few fleets of stairs. We entered a hallway lined with doors. No doubt, this place had once been a hotel. Yoshimitsu lead me to a door.
"You'll stay here." He pointed to a room a couple doors down. "Ekima, you'll stay there."
I nodded. "Thanks."
I opened the door and entered the room. It was larger than the one in the last hideout. The room was surprisingly clean. There was a large low table, surrounded by sitting cushions. It was simple, old wall scrolls hung from the wall and a small shelf was pushed under a window. I turned a corner and found another room. There was a queen sized bed with faded green sheets. Next to the bed was a night stand with an lamp. Two comfy, but worn looking chairs were placed on both sides of a rounded table. Behind the table was a glass sliding door that lead out to a balcony. I peeked into the nearby bathroom. The sink had lots of surface space and the shower had a built in bath. I could already tell this had once been a very grand hotel.
I removed my yukata, tossed it on the bed and walked out to the balcony. I sighed and leaned on my elbows. The sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon. How long? How much longer did I have to spend in this endless hell? The last sliver of the red orb melted into the barren land.
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Days turned to weeks and weeks into months. I soon lost track of time. We often moved from hideout to hideout but there was not specific schedule. Sometimes we would stay in one location for a month or two, other times, no more than a couple weeks, it all depended on the situation. There was no pattern either, we went wherever Orochimaru pleased. It was a hassle at first but I soon grew accustom to it. My friends didn't always move, sometimes one or two be left at a hideout. Unlike them though, I was always brought along. Now that Orochimaru had a new body and Sasuke, my experimenting had begun. Like the prisoners had said, I wasn't disposable; Orochimaru refused to have any other scientist examine me, he didn't want a slip up that could kill me. I finally learned what Kabuto had meant back when I had been released from the medical ward. During the experiments clothes were nothing but a hazard. While conscious I was allowed to cover myself but I doubt the same applied for when I was knocked out. Oh, I had struggled at first with the experiments. I didn't want to be some bodies lab rat, but after a couple months I grew used to it, realizing it could be done and over with faster if I cooperated.
I had continued my lessons with Ekima. After mastering the violin I moved onto other instruments, Ekima even began to give me singing lessons. Even still seeing the outside world fascinated her. She was such a sweet girl, never raised her voice to anyone or bad mouthed them. Hiko had slowly begun to open up to me. She wasn't as uptight and every now and then she even smiled and made jokes. Hiko wasn't a bad person but I could tell she didn't open up to others easily. Mizuko was the same as ever, always hyper and bouncy. I grew to know Yoshimitsu better. Despite his cold stare and, somewhat, self-centered personality, he was alright. He didn't talk much, he was more of an observer. I had seen other shinobi in the hideouts but I had never got the chance to get to know them.
Uchiha Sasuke? Well, I hardly saw him. Most of the time he was training with Orochimaru. But the few times I did see him was enough to learn he was the biggest asshole I had ever met! He was so self-centered and acted cool all the time. The way the girls drooled over him was even more annoying. He wasn't that attractive, Itachi was much better, in more ways then one. He was almost the complete opposite of his brother and I would have like to wring his snobby little neck. But I was good and resisted.
I trained constantly, every day. More out of sheer boredom then duty. Life was rather dull. In the Akatsuki I would travel constantly and see new sights. Here I only got to see new hideouts, some nicer that others, some in more obvious locations. Either way life moved on and I was surprised at how fast the time seemed to fly. Yet, at the end of the day, I always found myself wishing to be with the people I had grown up with. To be with Itachi, my non-related brother.
Author notes: Okay, so this wasn't as short as I thought it would be. Anyways, nothing really important happens in this chapter, just a little somethin' to help the story carry on. I really enjoyed describing the city and yes it is the same one from chapter 354.