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Chapter 60 – Poison
"This prison is rather unique." Kabuto muttered to himself as he stuffed rice into his mouth. It had been two days since he, Sakura and Sai had been captured and things had slowly gone from bad to worse.
After they had been discovered in the underground Engineering office they had been taken to Danzou's office for a lecture on loyalty and then straight to the underground prison. However, the jail was probably the best thought out design the teen had ever seen. And he had seen a lot of jails.
Instead of placing cells next to each other and packing inmates in them like sardines, each cell was separated from its neighbor by a hundred feel of solid earth with only one occupant per cell. They were also lined with a concrete and sealed with a jutsu that drained chakra. The door was constructed of a metal alloy that Kabuto had yet to identify.
Finishing his meager dinner, Kabuto placed the empty bowl on a tray next to the door. His food was delivered twice a day via jutsu. It would simply appear out of thin air on a simple plastic tray that had been permanently attached to the stone floor.
"They're either being very careful to keep out of my sight, or purposely isolating me." The teen sighed as he returned to his bed roll and lay down, staring up at the single-bulb light fixture on the ceiling. He snickered as he folded his arms under his head. If they were staying away from him it would be a smart move. After all, he was extraordinarily skilled at Genjutsu and had escaped from every jail he had ever been held in. He was a master at breaking in and out of buildings. All he needed was an opportunity.
He was worried about his two companions, though. He doubted either one of them had the skill to escape and going after them would lessen his own chances of getting away from Ki. Kabuto had never been one to take unnecessary risks. On the other hand, if the mission failed and he didn't have Sakura or Sai to back up his story Konoha would come after him for sure.
"They might anyway." Kabuto muttered. Failure, after all, was unacceptable to one such as Fugaku. Stern and set in his ways, the Hokage was certainly not the type to "forgive and forget", and even less likely to give second chances.
Of course it was still possible that Sai got his message to Konoha. They had found a map of the Ki underground and the boy had been in the process of composing a message with his ink jutsu when they were discovered.
"Even a partial message…" Kabuto wondered if that would be enough. Closing his eyes he listened carefully for any stray sounds. He had done that many times since he had been placed in his small cell and there was nothing. The space was completely silent.
He hadn't even tried to escape yet, to tell the truth, because he was still undecided about what to do with Sakura and Sai. And he was waiting to see what Danzou had in store for him. After going to such lengths to retrieve him, would the old man really order his execution? Kabuto didn't think so. And if that was indeed the case, it might be possible to save his companions. Sakura could be of great use as an assistant and Sai…
Kabuto smiled at the thought of the smart-alecky Sai sorting microscope slides and filing reports. It would be amusing to have the boy under his command. Every time he said something to insult him, he could just give Sai more work.
Hopefully, he would soon find out, one way or the other, what Danzou had planned for him.
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Contacting Sasori had not been easy, and Itachi was bitterly angry with the delay. The puppet master had been on a mission Akatsuki had contracted with Stone village to capture an S-class criminal who was plotting a coup against that countries Daimyou. Sasori had either been unable or unwilling to answer any summons sent via his ring and Deidara, for some reason, hadn't gone with him.
Itachi was in a bad mood when he set out from Konoha. Haku had offered to accompany him, and Naruto of course wanted to come as well, but in the end Itachi would have none of that. He knew he could travel faster on his own and exposing either of his friends to Sasori was not acceptable. While they had met him before, it had always been in the company of others. Sasori on his own was a dangerous man who showed little to no restraint.
He set a course that took him to Deidara's last known location. While he wasn't planning on asking anyone to join him, he knew that the person who had the best idea as to where Sasori was heading would be his partner. And currently, for some reason, the blond teen was hanging out at Kisame's cabin.
Running full speed through the trees, it only took a day to get the small house hidden in the middle of the Fire countries vast forest. He approached the structure without concern for the traps he was setting off. He was more than capable of avoiding them and was only held up for a couple minutes when a corpse caught his eye.
"Looks like someone is trying to spy on you Kisame." Itachi muttered as he threw the lifeless body over his shoulder and continued on through the dark forest. Night had fallen rather quickly as the sun disappeared behind a tall hill west of the cabin.
He slowed down as he approached a small clearing. The small house, shed and sparring area were exactly the same as the last time he had been there and he had to force the memories of that mission out of his head as stopped about forty feet from the door. Kisame would have already known he was coming, but coming too close to the hidden hideout of an S-class ninja, no matter how informal the relationship was never a good idea.
Itachi only had to wait a couple minutes for the door to open and a large blue man stepped out and leaned against the doorway. "Deidara said you were on your way. Come on in."
The teen nodded as he approached the porch and threw the corpse on the aged wood, "You have some spies sneaking up on you."
"Another one, huh? Suigetsu? Get out here and bury this raccoon." Kisame stood aside as the white-haired boy quickly ran out of the house.
"Another animal summons? Whoever is sending these in is heartless. This is the fifth one. What an idiot." The boy picked up the poor animal and walked away beligerantly, mumbling to himself.
"I would never have taken him for an animal lover." Itachi finally said.
"He's always been like that. Used to make friends with the rodents trying to steal our food when he was his brother's apprentice. Anyway," Kisame changed the subject and began walking back into the house, "come on in and join the party."
The bright light of the living room shone out into the yard as Itachi approached the house. Squinting as he entered he adjusted his glasses, and gazed at the occupants in shock.
"Have a seat, kid! We've got enough Sake for everyone!" Sitting at the table with a large bottle and a flat sake bowl in one hand was the last person he would have ever expected to see in the living room of an S-class criminal. Jiraiya.
And next to Jiraiya was the second person he would have never expected to see in Kisame's house.
'Is she… smiling?' Itachi asked himself as he looked closely at the only woman to have every graced Akatsuki with her presence. Konan was dressed plainly in black ninja pants and a long sleeve shirt in the same color. A waist length dark blue cape was wrapped around her shoulders like a shawl and her blue hair, instead of being gathered at the back of her head like usual, was braided down her back. And she was also holding a sake cup in her hand.
"Good evening, Itachi." Konan replied politely. "You look surprised."
"Well… yeah, I am. What are you two doing here?" Itachi deposited his backpack against the wall and sat down cautiously at the table. Kisame handed him a glass and a pitcher of water.
"No need to go into that yet." Jiraiya smiled broadly.
"Are you sure?" Konan asked.
The middle-aged ninja laughed, "Yeah. I heard through the grapevine what happened in Konoha. I think we can wait until Itachi gets his current task completed before burdening him with more."
"Which reminds me… where is Deidara?" Itachi decided to ignore the situation for now. While he was burning with curiosity about the current circumstances, he knew that the life of his wife and child were hanging in the balance.
"He's asleep in the other room. Hasn't been feeling well lately and Sasori dropped him off here for some reason. I'll have Suigetsu wake him up when he gets back."
"He's sick? That isn't like him." Itachi commented.
"Happens to the best of us!" Jiraiya laughed.
"It's just a cold, but he wasn't taking care of himself and started to come down with pneumonia." Kisame added, "One of the banes of being a missing nin, actually. You can't stay in one place long enough to care for yourself and any illness you get can easily turn deadly. But he's not that bad. Having Sasori around can be useful sometimes."
"Humph." Itachi nodded in understanding, thinking about how close he had come to living that exact same lifestyle. It wasn't uncommon to find out the ninja you were tracking had died of "natural causes". Few people would treat missing nin's and those who did were so secretive about it that often those who should be their patients didn't even know they existed. Word of mouth was the only way to get help in the culture of the exiled, but admitting you have an illness and asking for help were words one was understandably cautious about using.
"So you're going to have Sasori analyze the poison?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes. Tsunade doesn't recognize it and she and Shizune are working night and day to identify it and find an antidote. But it's alluding even them. All they've been able to do so far is extract it from the victims and keep it from spreading too much. They have a drug they cultured that also helps to inhibit the poison, but its only about eighty percent effective."
Konan put her cup down and frowned, "Hanzou was also a poison specialist. And he had an alliance with Danzou."
Itachi blinked once as he stared at the woman before him, "That… hadn't occurred to me... I wonder if Tsunade is thinking of that as well..." His voice drifted off.
"Perhaps not. I'll contact her for you, Itachi, and pass that on. Hanzou wasn't known for selling his jutsus the way Sand was. Chiyo's poisons became fairly widely used among several countries and were very easy to track back to her. Of course, only Tsunade ever found an antidote."
"The same can be said of Sasori." Itachi continued, "He is also a poison specialist with medical jutsu training. He is the only other person I can think of that is still alive that can help."
"Do you have an extra sample?" Konan asked quietly. "I can send it on ahead to Rain and have our technicians run some tests to see if it is one of Hanzou's. We seized his laboratories after Pein killed him and most everything was left intact."
"Yes!" Itachi quickly got up and rummaged through his bag, pulling out one of the ten vials Tsunade had prepared for him. "Thank-you very much, Konan."
The woman smiled warmly and she collected the small vial and pulled out several sheets of paper from inside her cape, "I'll get this off right away."
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Deidara, it turned out, was sicker than Kisame had led Itachi to believe. The blond was very sleepy, had hardly any voice, and was coughing like his lungs were trying to escape.
"He'll live." Kisame smirked when the teen peaked out from under his blankets and glared at him. "Although he may feel like he'd rather die at the moment."
"What do you want?" Deidara's raspy voice was barely above a whisper.
Itachi groaned inwardly. Hopefully Deidara's brain was still working, because the rest of the teen looked really out of it. "I need to find Sasori. I told you that when we spoke using the rings."
"Oh yeah." Deidara closed his eyes for a moment, "His mission was taking him into Rice country. A large village on the coast. His target has been hiding out there while he plans his coup against…" He started coughing, and rolled over onto his side to make it easier to breath.
"Do you think he's still there?"
Deidara took several deep breaths before continuing, "He said he would contact me when he finished. I haven't heard from him yet."
Itachi nodded his thanks and went back to the living room, gathering up his backpack.
"Leaving already?" Kisame asked, "You're welcome to stay the night."
"I don't have time." Itachi gripped the doorknob and glanced at Jiraiya and Konan. Something was going on, and he had a feeling it was going to complicate his life even more. He ran full speed into the night, disappearing from the area mere seconds later.
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Rice country, after the departure of Orochimaru, was slowly recovering. There were no Daimyou's left in the country to rule it and the lesser nobles were trying to rebuild the government, but it was a slow and painful process that would no doubt take years to sort out. After all, the snake Sannin had cared little for the nation he had taken over and after assassinating all those who stood in his way, had turned a blind eye to everything else.
Itachi raced through the countryside, slowing down only when he reached a village so he could eat, swallow a couple soldier pills increase his endurance and rest for a few minutes. Then he would be off again.
Two days after leaving Kisame's cabin he reached the port town of WaterLily Bay. A rather cheerful name for a village that was the exact opposite. Dingy, destitute and smelling like a mix of coal fires and urine, Itachi carefully entered through the town walls and used his chakra to try and sense Sasori.
He walked around for an hour, observing, listening, feeling for anything that would give a hint as to the puppet masters whereabouts. At the end of that hour he groaned and turned around, staring belligerently at the three ninja behind him.
"How long are you intending on following me?" Itachi asked calmly.
"How long are you going to stay in this town?" One of them, a man about six feet tall with a dark complexion and blond hair placed his hands on his hips and glared at the stranger.
"Not long." Itachi replied truthfully. "I'm not looking for a fight, so please leave."
A woman dressed in a long, split skirt responded, "Can't do that! We were hired to protect this town from ninjas and we take that job seriously."
"Hmm." Itachi looked closely at the trio. "Who hired you? That S-class guy everyone's after, or the village elders?"
"None of your business!" The big guy yelled.
"Ah. That would mean the S-class guy, then." Itachi smirked. If they had been "officially" hired by the elder council there would be no need to deny it. "I guess that means he's still alive?"
"Why you…" The three ninjas ran straight at Itachi, who used a transportation jutsu to disappear from their line of sight. Reappearing behind them he watched as they momentarily lost track of his location.
"Amateurs." Itachi chided, "I guess you were following me because you don't have any other talents. Although most tracking shinobi I know can at least hide themselves while following their targets."
"You! You have no right to criticize us! If you know about our boss then you have to be S-class and a missing ninja as well." The woman pointed a finger at Itachi as her anger grew.
Itachi was getting bored, "True. But I'm not looking for him. I'm looking for someone else. And I prefer to do it without an entourage."
"Too bad! We're going to run you out of town!"
Growling under his breath, Itachi gritted his teeth as his eyes bled into their Sharingan form, "I do not have time for this." He easily caught their eyes, casting them in a Genjutsu world consisting of quicksand and murky swamps. Itachi watched for a minute as the trio clawed at the empty air trying to escape their inner torments before walking away.
It would be naïve to assume that those underlings would know anything about their employer. Whether he was a live or dead, it would be difficult for them to see or hear anything about the man. They would likely stay at their post until they realized the weren't being paid anymore. That was a Shinobi's duty and that was all there was to it.
Continuing his way through the winding streets of the village Itachi had to silently compliment Sasori on his chakra hiding abilities. They were definitely among the best he had ever seen. Unless of course, he was no longer in the village. Then it was just annoying.
The teen spotted a street vendor selling Yakisoba and decided to take a break when his stomach growled at the sweet scent of the sauce the old woman was pouring over the fried noodles. Paying for a small serving he sat in a rickety chair near a dried out, half dismantled fountain and dug into his meal, eating quickly. He didn't have time to waste on pleasantries and the stares of the locals was more than enough to tell him how unwelcome he was.
"Young Itachi. What brings you here?" The childish voice coming out of the red-haired puppet boy brought a wave of relief to Itachi and he set his empty paper plate on the ground and stood up.
"Looking for you, Sasori."
"Humph. I've been ignoring my ring so I could finish this mission in peace. So Madara sent you to me instead."
"No. This has nothing to do with that man." Itachi wondered why Madara would be trying to contact Sasori alternatively, why Sasori was all of sudden ignoring him. Was there really something more to this assassination mission than it originally seemed?
"Well that's a good start."
Itachi felt a chill run up his spine, "Did you infect Deidara on purpose so you could do this mission on your own?"
"Yes and no." The puppet laughed, "He did have a cold and it did have a rather nasty cough, but I knew the idiot would still want to come along. However, this target is not someone I want to share the final blow with. He's mine. So I just nudged his cold along a little with some strategically placed medication. It won't kill him. I did add some poison antidotes to the medication as well, so he's also working off the affects of those. He's down for the count for a few weeks."
"Aren't you nice." Itachi said dryly.
"Being my partner does come with risks, after all. Orochimaru was able to make his own antidotes of course. Deidara on the other hand… he's annoying but still a hundred times better than Orochimaru."
"Humph. Well, speaking of poison, I would like to hire you for a job."
"You? I guess if it comes from you, you can afford the price."
"What is it?" This was the part Itachi was dreading. What would Sasori ask for in return for lending his skill? He knew Sheeta would never forgive him if someone died so she could live, and he wondered what his decision would be if that was what Sasori asked. Sheeta, after all, was his world. Would he really refuse any price to ensure her recovery?
"Do we need to discuss that now?" Sasori replied calmly. "First tell me what you need."
"Fair enough." Itachi looked around and saw that they were no longer the center of attention. Everyone had returned to their previous activities or were wandering off. The street vendor was directing a teenager to pick up all the discarded plates and bowls and an old man was restocking the woman's supply of noodles. It was a normal scene that he had seen in Konoha hundreds of times and he wondered why people were so fixated on their differences when in reality they were so similar to each other.
Itachi sighed and pulled the group of vials out of his backpack, "I need you to analyze this poison and come up with an antidote."
"Hmm. Is that poison I've been hearing about? The one Danzou dumped into your water supply?"
"In a matter of speaking. Someone poisoned a group of people taking a test a few days ago. The old poison mixed with the new poison and Lady Tsunade is unable to do anything other than delay its progress through the body. You are one of the premier poison specialists in the ninja world. Even Chiyo has been unable to decipher it."
"Grandmother…" Sasori's voice drifted off.
"I gave one vial to Konan. She sent it to Rain to have it compared to Hanzou's poisons."
"It would be logical if it came from him. I never sold anything to Danzou… or Konoha for that matter. I'll check this out for you and let you know the price later. But first… I have a target to assassinate."
"How long will that take?"
"About thirty minutes. He is nearby and I am finished playing with him. My specialty is puppets and poison, and your mission sounds a lot more fun than Madara's. No matter how much I have wanted this guy dead, and no matter how much I want to prolong that death… regretfully he can only die once."
Itachi was presented with another mystery as Sasori walked away, looking around the street with mannerisms of a normal boy so as not to draw suspicion. However, this mystery, he knew, was one he would never solve. It was Sasori's business and somehow, seeing the puppet master seeking vengeance made him seem more human than puppet. And perhaps that was why he wished to end the mission without any contact. Because he didn't want anyone to see his humanity.
Gazing down at his empty hand, Itachi realized that in handing over the poison samples he had silently agreed to any price Sasori asked of him.
'All I can do now,' Itachi thought to himself, 'is hope he doesn't ask for too much. And if he does… maybe someday… she'll forgive me.'
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Next week, we find out what the poison is and if an antidote can be made.
Got to feel sorry for Deidara. Can you imagine being sick and at the mercy of Kisame and Suigetsu? xD
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