Out here at the edge of civilization, where the Land of Fire crashed against the boarders of the Land of Lightening, at the end of humanity, of all worldly warmth and comfort, where the rain fell almost constantly in seemingly endless torrents, Murasaki's mind was numb.
It was as if she was a radio that had long since passed out of range and there was nothing to listen to but the dull hum of white nose.
The rain had soaked through her clothing many hours ago, but it didn't matter, or it didn't feel like it mattered. What had began with the sickly enthusiasm of youth and love had long since grown somber and desperate.
Jiraiya and Gai picked their way along a slimy path that lead precariously along the outermost rim of a deep crevasse, an raging, engorged river crashing below, threatening to swallow them up as it called out to them with infinite voices.
If there was one thing Murasaki could even begin to take note of, it was that this place was anything but silent. The would itself here was made out of a thousand voices, a cacophony of chaotic screams and chirps and roars as they were, some literal but even more not.
"Do you feel anything?" Her father's voice drifted back to her, strange and alien over the stridency of their surroundings. It took a moment for Murasaki to process, finally shaking her head. She was numb. She felt nothing.
Jiraiya's face masked worry and disappointment behind lines of concentration. At some point, Gai's sandal slipped through the mud. Jiraiya had only a moment to catch him as the taijutsu user nearly plummeted into the rocks below.
Murasaki waited with baited breath, stepping carefully around the unstable ground and grasping nearby roots for support.
But Gai and Murasaki knew they had bitten off more than they could chew, but there was method to their madness.
Even if the Hokage sent ANBU after them, the ANBU would be bound by duty to bring down a rogue ninja like Orochimaru.
It was a high hope, one born of the utmost teenage ego, but it was the only hope they had. Still, two chunnin were far better than no backup at all, theoretically.
If I was true or not remained to be seen, but based solely off of Jiraya's displeasure, he wasn't any more welcoming of the backup any more than one would have welcomed genital warts or a particularly unpleasant relative.
But, he hadn't sent the two home, which contradicted the assumption; perhaps the two were good for something after all.
It was at this point in Murasaki's thought process that she thought she may have felt something familiar. Something that would, in any other situation, been odd. But it made perfect sense to her.
It was her own chakra. It was faint, small, the tiniest of tiny pieces, but it was a sign. A sign that Kakashi was there, a sign that, by some terrific miracle he was alive.
If it is possible to lose ones voice among a plethora of other noises, Murasaki did so, nearly losing her balance as she struggled to announce her discovery over the roar of the gushing water in the ravine below.
Jiraiya took it as a good sign and welcome news, though it was easy to tell he had already assumed their proximity to Orochimaru's lair earlier.
The ground here was beginning to level out, trees growing high on either side of them with such density it nearly blocked out all of the watery, grey light. There was some respite from the torrential rain, for here among the thick vegetation, it only dripped slowly from leaf to leaf.
"You two, stay here, and be quiet." Jiraiya said, giving them a warning glance. Murasaki's heart leapt into her chest as Jiraiya bade she and Gai to duck into the relative safety of the twisted roots of some sort of sycamore.
Somewhere beneath them there was this energy, this slow, dull, aching buzz that was the source of the white noise inside Murasaki's head. She didn't want to say anything, but it made her worried. Gai was blissfully oblivious, his sculpted eyebrows arching over his dark, doglike eyes in concentration.
All of their chakras felt like they were flickering, smoldering faintly when normally they would have burned brightly.
"They put down chakra barriers." Murasaki whispered lowly to Gai. "they're somewhere under ground, I think. It's messing with me something fierce."
Gai nodded, obviously not really heeding her words as he kept look out. Murasaki wrung out his cloak, then hers, replacing the thick wool garment once it had been momentarily relieved of the heavy saturation.
"I hate this." She muttered, sitting back against the tree, feeling oddly sleepy due to the chill that had set in. Gai was shivering beneath the green spandex suit he wore, though he was trying to hide it.
Murasaki moved closer to him, the rain dripping slowly down from the large, bright green leaves of some climbing shrub that wound around the base of the tree.
"I hate sitting back and doing nothing white Jiraiya-sama does all the work." Gai said quietly, his face never losing that intense look.
Murasaki could only nod in agreement, suppressing a yawn as she rested her cheek against the rough scales of the root. In her time as a kunoichi, she had somehow mastered the art of sleeping sitting upright. She'd meant to break that habit many, many times, but it never seemed to work.
More than once, she woke to Gai shaking her gently, but somehow, the sycamore made a better rest than any bed she'd ever had the distinct pleasure of sleeping in.
She didn't dream at all, she only fell slowly, softly through a soft blackness. There was no fear, nothing, just falling endlessly as one might fall against the sheets of a bed.
There was a vague sense of danger, but it didn't really feel like anything to worry about. Gai was there. He would take care of it. He'd let her know.
Then suddenly, softly drifting through her sense like the faintest, most desperate prayer was a voice. It was soft and strong all together, sinful and full of lust.
And then came the pain.
Murasaki awoke to a light that burned brighter than what they were used to, her eyes crusty and filled with sleep.
It was cold, wherever she was, cold and bright, and she couldn't move. She willed her stomach to contract, to sit up, if nothing more that to raise her head and look around the room.
But her body blatantly defied her.
She could still feel, though, she wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
As she lay there, all of the feeling in her body slowly came back to her tenfold.
There was a needle in her arm, an I.V. bag overhead. Her clothing had been minimized to simply her undergarments. She wanted to get up, to find her clothing, to find where she was and go home.
The needle felt like a sword had been shoved through her arm, and there were chakra-suppressing sutras stuck to her arms and legs, the adhesive backing pulling as the fine hairs on her skin.
Had the hypothermia been that bad? Were Jiraiya and Gai and Kakashi okay?
No, this was no Konoha hospital. As the ceiling came into focus, it was clear she was underground.
Murasaki tried to force herself to remain calm. There were measures to take in situations like this, but she wasn't sure she was quite ready to take them.
The sound of footsteps coming closer filler the room. It may have been only a soft patter, but to Murasaki, it sounded like the roar of thunder.
"Oh, you're awake?"
The man's voice was startlingly amicable, his face mildly curious as he came into view. He was in his mid to late forties, with dark hair that was graying on the sides and chiseled features. His round spectacles rode tediously on the end of his nose as he looked down at her with sky-blue eyes.
Murasaki opened her mouth to reply, only a soft moan coming out.
"You've been temporarily paralyzed. We need you for an experiment, so we can risk you running off." There was a sick degree of cheerfulness in his voice when he brought up the experiment, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
Murasaki refrained from attempting more speech, knowing she'd only embarrass herself more. This wasn't a good situation, and the monitor on her left told her that her heatrate was rising.
The doctor patted her arm in a supercilious manner, muttering something about not having to worry.
"It would be over soon enough." He said.
The doctor drifted out of her field of vision again, the sounds of medical equipment rattling around in her head.
The door opened again, Murasaki cringing inwardly. A headache had started to bloom in her brain. She just wanted to go back to sleep.
The footsteps were soft, slow, accompanied by a slithering sound, like when one attempts to walk in formal karaginu-mo. It was the exact sound of silk on concrete
Murasaki felt her blood pressure rise at the figure grew near, it's pale flesh wrapped loosely in luxuriant silk, purplish black hair falling over the mans exposed, bony shoulder. He was in a different body than she had seen before, but there was no mistaking who it was.
"Well, if it isn't the little miko." Orochimaru purred, stroking her hair gently and leering down at her. He turned away, addressing the doctor.
"What are the results of the test?"
"They haven't come back yet, Orochimaru-sama."
Orochimaru's face curved down into a frown.
"A simple blood test? What is taking so long, Kangosotsu-san?"
"We had a difficult time drawing blood, and the tissue samples were nearly impossible."
Orochimaru made a disgruntled sound, turning back to Murasaki, his yellow eyes boring holes into hers. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes, but her body seemed to be stuck on auto-pilot.
Cold fingers ran up her arm, over the scars and muscles and bumps, finally coming to rest on her clavicle. The smile that crossed his deathly pale lips was even colder than those fingers; it was predatory and sinister to every degree imaginable.
"Little Murasaki. Oh, little, unassuming Murasaki." He cooed. "I'm shocked you passed the exams. You can't even save your comrades."
It took a moment for that thought to sink into her buzzing brain and then it hit her like a ton of bricks. She felt her eyebrows twitch, pouring all of her energy and focus into those muscles.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, his smile growing wider. His fingers closed around her chin, sinding a chill of fear down her body as she forced her entire face into a look of displeasure.
"You're a tough little otamajakushi, aren't you? You know, it takes less muscles to smile…"
There was a noise, a beep from the machine that the doctor must have been fussing with. Orochimaru relinquished his frigid grip and turned his attention.
"Orochimaru-sama…"
While the men's attention was diverted, Murasaki kept pushing her limits, pushing her chakra. It was no longer about the expression on her face, it was about flexing the muscles underneath the sutras. She had to slowly work away the adhesive.
XxX
The doctor liked to babble. Weather he was bored, or lonely, or like to the sound of his own voice wasn't clear.
He talked after Orochimaru left in a fluster after the initial test was inconclusive, he babbled when he cut a little chunk of flesh out of Murasaki's thigh, he babbled as he drew blood and put it in the centrifuge.
"Normally, Orochimaru would have me put the prisoners in a holding cell." The doctor said, tapping the table absently. "but I prefer the company."
Murasaki wasn't listening fully, her mind focused on the last of the brittle adhesive. It was pilling out the little white hairs on her leg one by one. She was careful not to move, to have the sutras pull away and reveal her plan. It was exhausting work, the doctor warning her to stay calm as her heart rate rose on the monitor.
"Of course I'm just a civilian. I lost my medical license in the last war and was…" The doctor was happily rattling on and on, but by the time he turned back around, Murasaki had used a replacement jutsu and was gone.
The hall was unbelievably dark. There were a few torches here and there, but for the most part is was pitch black and smelled like fresh earth and stale water. Like the inside of an unbelievably old cave.
Murasaki was having problems moving her muscles, nearly having to drag her leg as she fled the operating room. Whatever had been in the I.V. had almost completely paralyzed her.
She ducked into one of the dark recesses of the hallway as the sirens began to go off. Her entire body felt like it was full of pins and needles as she flexed her fingers and toes in order to will back a fraction of mobility.
Her heart was hammering in her ears as three ninja ran past. She waited with baited breath until they passed, some agonizing feeling returning to her limbs.
She heard them stop. They were talking, their voices male. She could smell them, what was that scent? Petrol? No…it was peppery and musty.
Murasaki held her breath, trying hard to keep from coughing. This entire facility felt like a mass of chakra. She reached out, trying to find that little bit of her own.
It was stationary; they must have put him in a holding cell somewhere below her.
"Hey."
Murasaki felt a chill go down her spine and she looked up.
"Looks like we found a little mouse sneaking around." One of the men joked. He was impossibly tall, with a face like a bloated fish.
Murasaki stumbled back, hitting the wall full force. It felt like she'd been hit by something very large that had been moving very fast.
She gasped as the man grabbed her arm, linking his arms underneath her so she couldn't move.
"We should take her back to Orochimaru." One fo the others said, Murasaki couldn't tell which one at present.
"Nah, we can make him wait a bit." the third one had crooked teeth and an evil smile as he stepped towards Murasaki.
"Let's have a bit of fun." The tall one said, forcing Murasaki to the floor.
"Kin, stop it. You're being ridiculous." the second man said, Murasaki realizing he was the one with musty blue-grey hair.
"Don't be such a fag, Mojuu." The one with crooked teeth laughed. He grabbed a fist full of Murasaki's brown locks.
"What are you three doing?" It was the doctor. Murasaki heaved in inward sigh of relief. He seemed the most sensible out of the four. "Get her back to my lab immediately! Our security has been breached."
Kin dropped Murasaki to the floor.
"Take her, doc."
The doctor bent down, lifting her arm over his head and placing a hand on her waist.
"Come on now." Suddenly, he collapsed, his full weight landing on Murasaki's ribcage.
She could hear the men laughing as the doctor made a grunt of pain. The last think she could recall was the feeling of something heavy coming down on her head, and the pool of blood as her face collided with the floor.
A/N: BOOM. A wild update appears
That's right kids, I'm back.