Chapter 10 The Source of it all
Hinata walked down the stairs to the bottom level of the base, she was carefully balancing five trays of food.
"Here let me help." said Sai as he took his tray off Hinata's hand and placed it on the guard seat.
"Thanks." said Hinata as Sai also took two other trays.
"It is super time already?" asked Sai
"I know it is easy to lose track of time when you can't see the sun but ya it is seven." said Hinata
"Where is my food!" snapped Tenten from down the hall.
"Looks like Tenten is acting up." said Sai as they started down the hallway with trays of food in hand. They went straight for Tenten's and Neji's cell because two wild wolves is never a good thing to leave them hungry. Hinata looked though the bars to see Tenten walking back and forth on all fours, it made her look more like an animal then a woman. Neji was standing against the back wall; in the corner was a pile of waste.
"Here you go." said Hinata as she put the tray though a slit in the door. Instantly Tenten grabbed the trays and threw them to the ground. The large pieces of meat that had Hinata over an hour to cook where ripped into by sharp teeth.
"Why is this meat hot?" asked Neji as he glared at Hinata
"It is cooked." said Hinata
"Don't do it again." said Tenten as she bite down into the flesh.
"They have really changed if they don't want cooked meat." thought Hinata as she moved toward the remaining two cells. Shizune was easy to feed; she took the tray of vegetables before eating. It was strange, she set the tray down on the ground like a normal person but instead of using the plastic silverware she simply put her face into the plate and started eating. Finally she reached Naruto's door.
"How are you doing Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata as she looked toward Naruto, his chest was covered with white fur, a blonde tail stayed still behind him as his black pointed ears popped out of head, however his legs and his right arm had changed. His arm from the elbow down was covered with black fur and now had sharp claws instead of finger nails. His lower legs from the knee down had changed into something more canine. Like his arms from the knee down it was covered with black fur. A thin line of blonde fur had appeared just above the black fur, giving a hint of what was coming next.
"I am doing ok." said Naruto as he took a tray of meat and berries, while foxes ate mostly meat they could eat berries and other none meat food. It was kind of funny watching Naruto try to work with the silverware when his claw was longer and sharper then the knife "Do you know when Sakura will be back?"
Hinata eyes widened as she lowered her head when the man she loves talk about another women.
"She still needs to finish the psychology test on us." added Naruto
"She and Ino have been locked up in the lab for most of the day, they haven't even came out to eat." answered Sai
"Then they must of found something then." said Shizune
"That is good right?" asked Naruto
"Not really, it could be bad news." said Shizune as Kakashi walked down the stairs.
"Hinata, Sai everyone is to meet in the cafeteria right now." ordered Kakashi
"Who will guard the prisoners?" asked Sai
"They aren't prisoners they are our friends." snapped Hinata
"They may be our friends but they are a damager to us right now so they are prisoners." answered Sai
"Just head up stairs, I will leave a shadow clone behind to guard them." explained Kakashi "Ino and Sakura have found something."
"We will be back with good news." said Hinata as they walked away.
When the three of them reached the cafeteria they found everyone waiting for them.
"Temari who is watching the camera's?" asked Hinata as she sat down beside her at the table.
"A shadow clone." explained Temari
"So Sakura, Ino what have you found?" asked Kakashi
For a moment the two medical ninjas looked at each other before Sakura stood up. "We believe we have found out how the virus originally spread and why certain people turn into certain animals." said Sakura
"Great then a cure is near?" asked Hinata
"No, we are dealing with what has only been theorized before." said Ino "A virus that is chakra born."
"Chakra born?" asked Sai
"You all know about virus and bacteria that can be passed by either in the air, water and the other common ways." said Sakura "Chakra born is a virus that is spread by chakra."
"See whenever someone does a justu no matter how small, a small amount of chakra is released into the air." said Sakura "Normally this simply absorbed into nature but it is theorized that it can be absolved into anyone who is nearby."
"So if this is a chakra based virus every justu transmits the virus, like a person sneezing?" asked Temari as she tried to wrap her mind around the idea.
"Correct." said Ino "And that is the problem for years no one would show any sign of the virus and all the while they would be passing it on."
"My God we could all be infected right now." said Hinata
"We are." said Sakura as everyone's eyes widened. "At this very moment we all carry the virus within us."
For the longest time no one spoke as they began to process the information.
"Then why are we not animals?" asked Captain Yamato
"Because the virus is still dormant in us….in fact if someone hadn't activated it now, it would have likely burned out in a couple of years." said Sakura
"Burn out?" asked Temari
"Yes, every couple of years the body naturally removes all the chakra within a body and releases it with a new supply." said Sakura "Over time the virus has been diluted and would have been gone in a couple of years."
"Go back someone activated it?" asked Kakashi
"Yes, that fog that Tenten saw in the Leaf the day all the males over 12 or 13 started to turn must have been an airborne catalyst that awoke the virus and began turning people." explained Ino
"How long have we had this within us?" asked Sai
"Nearest we can tell decades." said Sakura
"What was the source?" asked Kakashi as Sakura looked down at the table "Find the source find the cure."
"We modified a chakra paper test to see if we could find the source of the virus and we found it's source." said Ino
"What is it?" asked Kakashi
"Naruto." said Sakura sadly as everyone eyes widened "The source of the virus comes form the fourth Hokage sealing away the Kyuubi inside Naruto when he was born."
"That was decades ago?" said Sai
"Ya, and when they sealed the Kyuubi the virus probably infected the entire village." said Sakura
"I remember the clouds being red for days after the battle with the Kyuubi." Said Kakashi "The 3rd Hokage told us when demons fight they always leave chakra residue behind them."
"Ya, and it is that chakra that infected the village." said Ino "Then every time someone did a justu it would pass it on to anyone born after the first infection."
"Is that how Temari got infected by us using justu's around her?" asked Hinata
"No, the source of her infection was different." said Sakura "The test show a different form of chakra began the virus in her. However it still has the same effect"
"From us sealing the demon in Gaara." answered Temari
"Likely." said Sakura
"So who wouldn't be infected?" asked Captain Yamato "Anyone who has never been around a sealing of a demon, around someone who is infected doing justu or had blood or other bodly fluids infusion with an infected person."
"Blood and bodily fluids?" asked Sai "You just said this is chakra born?"
"It is but human bodily fluids all contain small amounts of chakra within them." said Ino as she shook her head wondering how Sai didn't know something out of her medical 101 book.
"So why do people transform into different creatures?" asked Captain Yamato
"We aren't totally sure but we have a working theory." said Ino
"If that is all you have we will take it." said Kakashi
"Testosterone." said Sakura
"Testosterone?" asked Sai "You're talking about the hormone?"
"Yes, our theory is that a person's testosterone level determines the type of creature they become." said Sakura "The higher the amount of testosterone in the body the more violent animal they transform into."
"Do you have proof?" asked Temari
"No, but it makes sense. Testosterone promotes increase body and muscle mass and it is likely the fuel for the transformation." said Sakura "Males have more testosterone and the more they work out the more they have. Also they have more than females and male kids before the enter puberty have on average a low testosterone. That would explain why kids between 12 and 13 don't change and why women don't change."
"We have testosterone in our body but it is lower than males." said Ino "That means the virus is in us but it didn't have to fuel to start any real transformation. That is without someone who is infected providing a kick start to the transformation, transforming the person who isn't transformed into their type of animal."
"Why does thing like sex speed up the transformation?" asked Hinata
"Sexual fluids are loaded with the virus and the more a person gets the fast they transformed." said Sakura "A simple bite will transform you within a couple of hours but the longer they bit you and the more their salvia gets into your blood stream the faster you transform. Shizune was able to remove a lot of the virus after she was bitten that is why is changed slower."
"Also it helped that she was bitten by a rabbit, prey animals have less of the virus in their system." said Ino
"How long to find a cure?" asked Kakashi
"We have never seen anything like this before it will take a lot of time to find a cure." said Ino "If we can find one at all."
"Alright, we need to find another base of operation." ordered Kakashi "A village, somewhere away from the infected where we can do research in safety."
"How do you think we should find a village who hasn't come into contact with this virus." Said Hinata
"We don't need too, we need to find a village who hasn't come into contact with whatever awakened the virus." said Captain Yamato
"Agreed." said Kakashi as he looked at Yamato and Sai "So you two will head out on one of Sai's birds, take a week and fly to the most remote and most defendable village you can find. Tell them what is going on and then come back."
"What about Naruto and the others?" asked Sakura
"If we can take them we will but if not we will have to release them into the wild." said Kakashi
"We can't do that." thought Sakura "Naruto-kun is a fox and while still a predator it is a low predator and could become prey to a larger predators like a wolf or a big cat. I will not let that happen."
"When do you want us to leave?" asked Sai
"As soon as possible." answered Kakashi
"We will leave within the hour." said Captain Yamato "There may be some villages in the mountains by Earth Country that would be uninfected."
"Good idea." said Kakashi "Sakura, Ino keep up the work on finding a cure."
Meanwhile by the remains of the broken out wall of the Leaf Kiba sat at the spot where the mark he had placed on Sakura's shoe disappeared into the woods.
"It is only a matter of time until you have your mate son." said Kiba's mother Tsume as the aging dog stood over the remains of a wild deer they had killed for super.
"I have to wait Anko to show up, why can't that wolf bitch move faster." whined Kiba as suddenly the sound of approaching footsteps caused the small pack of dogs to look down the road. Coming their way was a large pack of wolves.
"Crap, they are coming to take our kill." said Kiba's sister's mate.
"Calm down." ordered Kiba as he noticed that among the wolves was Shikamaru. Behind them was a small group of horses. "It looks like we may be heading out soon to get my mate."
Meanwhile miles away from the Leaf and in an underground, a man dressed in all black, even his face was covered with black, only his eyes could be seen. He had on a black jonnin vest however he lacked any headband marking his village. On his back was a standard ANBU short sword.
"Sir the infection has reached critical level in 3 out of 4 villages we have released the gas." reported the man.
"Which village was it?" asked another man, who was sitting in the shadows.
"It's the Rain village; they fell back to several large towers in the center of the village." reported the first man "It is the same thing the Leaf tried and it failed so will this one. If it wasn't for the delay with launching the turning agent on the Rain Village they would have fallen by now."
"Good, how are the uninfected village reacting?" asked the sitting man.
"As planned they are sealing up their borders and are praying that they don't get hit." said the first ninja.
"Then let's go give them an offer they can't refuse." said the sitting man as he stood up pushing up a pair of glasses as he stood up.
"Yes, Lord Kabuto." said the first man.
Well I hope you liked this chapter and the explanation I gave about how they believe the virus spreads/works. Now I wish you all a happy/scary and safe Halloween. Now until we meet again keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75