When I woke up, I heard my name being called over and over, very quietly. The voice was somewhat weak, and coarse. I open my eyes and shoot straight up, my eyes wide and my head aching. I saw Susumu laying on the ground, laying on his stomach, panting heavily and sweating majorly.
I ran to his side, and knelt beside him, immediately placing my hand on his back.
"S-Susumu! Are you alright!?"
"S..Se..Setsuki... Setsu...ki..." He kept muttering my name under his uneven breath.
"I-I'm here, Susumu! Open your eyes!" I pleaded. Susumu's eyes slowly opened, only halfway. We made brief eye contact. His hand slowly, and feebly made its way up to my chest, he gripped my shirt and pulled me down so my head was near his, he then proceeded to mutter into my ear.
"O-Oro..chimaru..." He started to cough, his arm lost strength and fell to the ground.
"Orochimaru!? Did.. did he do this to you?!" I questioned.
Susumu's breathing became heavy, and hazy. "I... f-feel... cold.." He whispered under his last breath before he stopped breathing completely. My eyes widened, I panicked.
"Su...SUSUMU!" I started to shake him violently. I look around the room quickly, that's when I noticed we were in some sort of cellar. I saw another cell, parallel to ours, and I saw Daisuke and Lee still unconscious in there. I run to the metal bars keeping me bound inside. "DAISUKE-KUN! LEE-SAN!" I cried.
Daisuke seemed to groan at the sound of my voice, he woke up. "Setsu...ki?" He looked around, rubbing his head. When he realized where we were, he immediately stood up and clung to the bars on his cell, facing me. "Setsuki! What happened?! Where are we!?"
I tried to explain that I didn't know where we were, but I told him what happened to Susumu and he almost choked.
"That bastard better wake up before I come over there and slap him awake!" Daisuke shifted his gaze from me to Susumu. "SUSUMU! WAKE UP! WAKE UP YOU BASTARD! DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!" He warned, raising his voice. It was loud enough to awaken Lee. Lee sat up slowly, groaning in pain from his wounds, but when he fully awakened, he also jumped to his feet.
"Daisuke-kun?" Lee inquired, facing the roaring blondie. "What is going on? Where are we- SETSUKI-SAN!" Lee clung to the bars too. Daisuke shot him a dirty look.
"Lee-san! Are you okay?" I asked, referring to his wounds. Daisuke lowered his eyes on Lee, to see his wounds, he then growled.
"His bandages have been torn off!" Daisuke said, rather irritated. "Your beloved green suit is now red.."
"What!" Lee lowered his gaze to his own stomach, and gave a disappointed face. "... Gai-sensei will not be happy about this!"
"You idiot! This is no time to be thinking about that stupid sensei of yours!" Daisuke gushed, he reached into his pockets to pull out another bandage. Lee faced Daisuke, ready to retort, however Daisuke raised his voice to prevent Lee from talking. "Sit down and I'll bandage you up again.. jeez such a pain."
Lee shook his head defiantly. "I will be fine, but thank you for your concern, Daisuke-kun.." Lee spoke. Daisuke wasn't satisfied with that answer.
"No. You will sit the fuck down, and let me re-bandage your wounds!" Daisuke gushed. Lee gave a challenging glare.I turn my attention back to Susumu who wasn't moving. I started to panic, and I turned to Daisuke and Lee to ask for suggestions on what I should do, when I saw Daisuke pinning Lee to the ground, trying to bandage his stomach while Lee squirmed around trying to get free. "Stay still you bastard!"
"Guys.. please stop messing around." I grumble. They both looked at me, and realized how immature they were being, so they both cooperated momentarily until Daisuke bandaged Lee's wounds to stop the bleeding.
"Don't worry Setsuki, I'll get us out of here. I just need to break down these metal bars.." Daisuke said.
"Leave that to me." Lee said, completely focused. Daisuke had a look that he didn't want to look second best, especially to Lee. This was no time to be competing against each other. I approach Susumu again, and kneel down beside him. I heard both Daisuke and Lee bashing against the bars, trying to escape.
It seemed like hours, hours of listening to the same repetitive banging on the bars from Daisuke and Lee who were slowly wearing themselves out by doing so. Susumu had a pulse, even though he wasn't breathing, so I sat beside his body and kept a close eye on him. I was leaning against the wall, my eyes felt heavy, I was tired. I closed my eyes for a moment, when I heard Daisuke and Lee growl at something, other than each other. There was a third voice in the room. I click awake, and saw the figure standing between our cells. Kabuto. He scorned at the duo.
"Would you two stop making such a racket? Lord Orochimaru is trying to rest." Kabuto said. Daisuke spat at Kabuto's face. Kabuto turned his head away to avoid it. He adjusted his glasses, and gave a mocking sigh. "That wasn't very smart of you, then again.. you are blonde."
"You can go tell that Orochimaru bastard to go shove a kunai up his ass!" Daisuke gushed. Lee seemed to give an intimidating look towards Kabuto. I hugged my knees, not wanting to draw attention to myself, I just stared at Kabuto, saddened by the fact he tried to kill me.
Kabuto seemed to become agitated at his remark. "I would watch your tongue if I were you." He warned. Daisuke would not be intimidated.
"What're you going to do about it?!" Daisuke questioned. Lee gripped Daisuke's shoulder, a physical message to say shut up. Kabuto didn't seem impressed at all.
"Do you want to be poisoned? How about Manda's venom? It would paralyze you for weeks, meaning you would die a slow painful death." Kabuto sneered, he kept naming different types of poisons, each getting more and more vile. It made me cringe and my stomach turn. To hear him speaking so dark, it bothered me to a great extent. "Now, how's the little pawn coming along?" He peered into my cell, looking down at Susumu. I kept staring at him, frowning. It seemed to amuse him.
"Don't call my teammate your pawn you little 4-eyed freak!" Daisuke shouted. Kabuto adjusted his glasses again.
Kabuto opened the cell, I tensed. I had to do something to free us all. I slowly reached into my pouch to grab a kunai, hoping he wouldn't notice. Kabuto closed the cell door behind him, then approached Susumu. He knelt down on one knee, and reached his hand out towards him. I quickly jumped up in the blink of an eye, swung a Leaf Hurricane at his chest, which surprisingly hit him, and flung him into the wall. I grab Susumu, throw him over my shoulder then run for the door.
Kabuto grumbled, pulling himself out of the rubble. I kick the cell door open, then Daisuke got all excited.
"Setsuki, open this door so I can kick the crap out of that guy!" Daisuke demanded.
Lee stood up straight. I was already tugging at the lock on the door, trying to bust it open.
"What a stupid mistake.." Kabuto's voice gushed from behind me.
"Setsuki behind you!" Daisuke shouted, I quickly turn, but Kabuto struck. My neck suddenly acquired a sharp pain and I dropped Susumu. "Setsuki!" Daisuke began to get enraged. "How dare you hurt her!"
I fell to the ground, and held the side of my neck where the pain is. "K-Kabuto! Why are you acting like you don't remember me!?" I question.
"Oh I remember you alright, Setsuki." He said. Daisuke and Lee looked between us curiously.
"Y.. You do?"
"You're the annoying little wench at the Chuunin Exams." He said, pulling out a card from his pocket. He showed me the front, the same info cards he had at the Chuunin Exams. It was my picture, my stats, my teammates, everything about me. "The one I had to play an act for. So annoying. Stop playing your game now."
"W.. what?" I was a little shocked. "What act?! What're you talking about?!"
"Lord Orochimaru has done some history check of you. Your home village was destroyed, am I right? It was said you had a cousin that shared my name." He sniggered. "He told me to convince you that I was him, that way you would open up to me quite easily! And you know the funny part? You did!" He scoffed.
I felt hurt, but I didn't show it. What scared me was the others were all listening and taking it in.
"S.. Setsuki-san.. is.. is that true?" Lee asked.
"Your cousin's name is Yakushi Kabuto!?" Daisuke questioned. I couldn't hide it now. I lower my head and nod. "So you're saying, this guy is your cousin?!" Daisuke glared at Kabuto, who met his gaze.
"I'm afraid you are wrong. I am not her cousin. I only played along." He snickered. "My history is none of your concern. But I assure you," Kabuto looked down at me. "she is not a part of my life."
"Then what is your father's name?!" I question.
"I don't have a father. Or a mother, before you ask. Nor any family. I work for Lord Orochimaru, he is my family. I have no business with you lot. Now, die." Kabuto had his hand glow with chakra again. Was he.. telling the truth? Is he really not my cousin? I wanted to know more! But I don't think I was gonna get any more information out of him. I sighed quietly and prepared myself for another battle. Suddenly a kunai flew from behind Kabuto, clipping a few strands of hairs and gliding along the very edge of his glasses, and kept going. Kabuto tensed the slightest bit.
"Well well.. seems we have a few more rodents.." Kabuto grimaced. Suddenly, we saw a smoke bomb heading our way, it landed beside Kabuto's feet, and exploded, white smoke covered the area. I cover my mouth, trying not to cough, I heard Lee and Daisuke cough. I also heard the lock on on their cell door break. I felt a hand grab my arm, it forcefully raised me to my feet and lifted me off the ground. I tried to reach out for Susumu but I couldn't. Kabuto broke the silence by coughing a few times, but his cough got quieter and quieter. I was being carried over someone's shoulder, but I couldn't tell who.
We escaped outside and the person leaped through the trees hastily. I saw another two people following, I squinted my eyes, and recognised them. Tenten, and Gai-sensei. I saw the brown hair flying from the side of my head, I turn and recognise Neji. Tenten was carrying Susumu on her back, and Gai-sensei was carrying Daisuke and Lee, one in each arm, Daisuke kicking and thrashing about. I felt somewhat happy, but surprised at the same time. At least we were saved.