Chapter 55 - Ursa Arcturus

Standard Procedure, Steps Two and Three: Scouting and Confrontation (Again)

The second skirmish went far better than the first, to say the least.

One of the key factors in this was the wise decision for Ninako to scout for the target from the safety of the forest's edge, where he was probably less likely to attack.

"We should have done this from the start," she said.

"Yeah, but, we were investigating before. So it's okay," Sakari replied.

"Do you see anything?" Hajime said.

"I'm looking."

A pause.

"Nobody at the house."

"Nobody?"

"No, just those chickens."

"Then find him."

"Okay, Hajime."

Another pause.

"Ah. There's our guy. He's looking angry as usual. Second level. Odd, though, you don't often see so many transformations so close together. Something must be stressing him out."

"Poor thing," Sakari said.

"How far away?" Hajime asked.

"Two and a half miles out, moving west."

"We'd better go meet him then," Hajime said.

So they moved out.

The interception was a wild success of a thing.

Hajime managed to bind him with a bigger snake, a stronger snake, sending it through the underbrush and striking spontaneously.

He could see that it wouldn't last long. "SAKARI, NOW!"

"Right-o!"

Sakari ran forward, aiming for a blow to the base of the spine, to shock him.

"Please hold still, sir!"

She punched.

The man began to stagger from the blow, coughing, gasping.

"NO… NO…! GET OUT, GO AWAY…!"

His arms strained against Hajime's ink-snake. The blacks stressed themselves into cream-greys.

"Ninako, disable his arms."

"On it, Hajime."

The veins around Ninako's eyes bulged. Radiant pulses of chakra concentration were suddenly, magnificently visible, and she went for them.

She managed to disable the man's left arm before the snake gave way. She and Sakari were well off of him before either of them could be tossed into trees.

He went for.

"HAJIME!" Ninako cried.

Hajime's paintbrush was flying across the scroll, creating a spider, an octopus, something with many legs to bind. He was improvising.

The man's right arm was still usable and it was shifting to a size that did not belong on normal humans.

His hand was the size of a cart wheel.

And it covered Hajime completely. Fingers like tree roots wrapped around his arms. Hajime's paintbrush was flying.

Out of his hands.

Ninako went for the shoulder, Sakari went for the back, Jimichi went for a CV.

All Hajime could do was stare and trust.

When suddenly.

The man's grip loosened.

His skin began to fade from mud to sand.

And he said, "Sasuke…?"

He let go of Hajime. His working arm was shrinking. Ninako, feeling foolish, dropped off of his back.

The man continued. "Sasuke, is that you…? What are you doing here…?" He had a deep voice, but he spoke carefully.

"Are you… talking to me?" Hajime asked. The man nodded. "I'm… sorry, but my name's not Sasuke."

"Oh… I'm sorry, you just… look like someone I used to know, is all." It was strange how the man actually sounded apologetic as he spoke. "You have the same eyes. So when I saw them, I calmed down."

"Oh, really? Well, who was your Sasuke?" Sakari asked, from his dead left arm.

"Oh, his… name was Uchiha Sasuke. I haven't seen him for a very long time…"

Hajime, shaking out his arms, paused before he could pick up his equipment. "…that's my father," he said. "You knew him?"

"You're his son…?" Hajime nodded. "Oh, I suppose that makes sense, then…" the man said, thoughtfully. "I haven't seen him in years and years…"

"Sir, do you know who we are?" Sakari asked him.

"No, I don't know any of you other folks, I'm sorry," the man replied.

"Well, we're here on behalf of the Curse Seal Rehabilitation Program. I understand that your condition can be difficult to live with, sir. We're here to help you with it."

"Oh. Help?"

"Yes, we have medicines and other services available that can make life a little easier for you."

Sakari went on. Ninako was at Hajime's side. "You okay there?" she whispered. "I was scared, for a moment."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. He began rolling up his scroll. "I'm more shaken by the fact that this guy knows my dad than anything."

"Should be an interesting story."

"Yeah."

"Now what's your name, sir?" Sakari asked.

"My name…? It's Juugo."

"Ah, Juugo-san! Is that so! I'm afraid I don't know you!"

Sakari knew the name of every known and unaccounted-for curse seal victim. Her eyes were sparkling.

Juugo was new.

"My name is Haruno Sakari. My colleagues are Uchiha Hajime and Hyuuga Ninako, over there, and Fuguki Jimichi, over there. He'll be able to heal any injuries we might have caused in encountering you."

"I can't feel my arm," Juugo said.

"My fault, sorry," Ninako said. "I can get at the pressure points so you can move it again, if you want."

"Oh, that'd be nice…"

But in reaching her arms up to try and get at the points, Ninako asked, sheepishly, "Uh, could you please sit down…? It'd make things easier."

"Oh, sure, sorry…"

"So, Juugo-san," Sakari asked, "can you tell us what caused this particular transformation in you?"

Ninako's fingers were quick and very precise.

Juugo thought.

And as soon as his left arm was working again he was using it to raise his left hand to his face with his other hand as an expression of absolute distress spread over his face.

"...my son!"

Ninako hopped away. A precaution.

"Your son?" Sakari said. She got closer.

"Oh no, oh dear, oh no, he must still be in so much pain, oh no…!"

"Calm down, sir. What about your son?" Sakari said.

"He had another attack and I started losing control so I left the house before I could hurt him and oh no I have to go home, what if he's, oh no…"

Juugo was hyperventilating. His hands, enormous even in their natural form, were clinging to the sides of his head, orange hair between his fingers.

Jimichi prepared a CV. Just in case.

Hajime got an idea.

"Juugo-san."

He approached the man and looked him in the eyes.

(He hated being compared to his father. But.)

"Calm down, and tell us what the matter is with your son."

And Juugo.

Began to calm down.

The rest of the team looked on.

That was their leader.

"Well, he, he has a condition and…"

Juugo was taking deep breaths.

A glance was shared around them.

"Oh, it's usually okay, he was fine yesterday, I was able to deal with it, but today, today it was just so bad…"

"And this condition your son has, does he have transformations like you do?" Hajime said.

Juugo didn't respond.

"Juugo-san, we understand if you're frightened, but we can help the both of you," Sakari added. "Honest."

"They're… he's… oh, I should go back home and check on him…" said Juugo.

He started to stand. He was enormous, even untransformed, well over six feet tall.

"I want to make sure he's okay, it should be okay now, it's been enough time. I'm so sorry if I hurt any of you…"

"I'm totally fine, Juugo-san!" chirped Sakari. "You don't mind if we come with you, then? I think it'd be best if we checked up on your son as well."

"I… I don't know, he's very delicate, and we've been able to take care of ourselves for the longest time…"

"Then we'll just have to be even more delicate," Sakari said. "What's his name?"

"Asaoto…"

"Oh, what a unique name! Well then, let's go on and check on Asaoto-kun, Juugo-san."

Sakari walked side by side with Juugo as they continued on, and her head only came up to his elbow.

"That was kind of brilliant, you know," Ninako said, aside.

"What was."

"The way you talked him down. Seriously."

"It was nothing," Hajime said. "Let's get going."

Jimichi put away the CV.

Just like Ninako had seen, there were chickens in the front yard.

But no Asaoto.

Juugo was distressed.

But not too much.

"Oh dear, he must have… it must have gotten worse, he must have had to use the trapdoor…"

"Trapdoor?" Sakari said.

"Karin set it up for us." Juugo sniffed, and pointed to a short metal pole in the corner of the main room with paper seals all over it. "For when things get too out of hand, so he can make his way over her to her… lab right away, so she can treat him…"

"Karin?"

Juugo nodded, slowly. "She lives in Ryokyo. She's a friend of ours, a good friend…"

"That's strange, I think we know her too," Jimichi said. "How long have you known her?"

"I've known her for a… long time… She's helped us so much…"

"That's… odd, though. If you know Karin-san, then why aren't you in any of our records, Juugo-san?" Sakari said.

"Maybe Karin-san's treating them herself?" Ninako said.

"I don't know… I need to get to Asaoto, though, I need to see if he's okay…" Juugo said.

"Just how exactly does this 'trapdoor' work, Juugo-san?" Hajime said.

"…I don't know. It's something to do with chakra, but it lets him get from here to there in only a few seconds. She set it up for us. I don't know how it works…" Juugo said. "Asaoto, he's… very delicate, but even he can use it…"

"You think you could show us how it works, Juugo-san?" Sakari said. "It'd really cut down on our travel time."

"I don't… think so. I'm not used to using it, I prefer to run to her place because it calms me down, whenever this happens… Besides, if I showed you, I'd be taken there too in explaining it, and that wouldn't be any good I don't think…"

"…point taken. Ryokyo's not terribly far away, we should get there in an hour if we run. Do you suppose you could keep up, Juugo-san?" Hajime said.

"I think so," Juugo said.

"Then let's move out and see if little Asaoto-kun's doing okay, okay?" Sakari said.

"Okay," Juugo said. He managed to smile.

They moved out. But not before Juugo apologized to the chickens first, for scaring them.

Hajime's curiosity got the better of him on the way over.

"So, Juugo-san, how exactly do you know my father?" he said, when they were about a third of the way there.

"Oh, we… met a long time ago. He helped me out of a very dark place."

(His father? Helping people?)

"That's interesting," Hajime said.

"I am still very grateful to him, even though it's been such a long time," Juugo continued. "Is he doing all right?"

"He's fine," Hajime said.

"So when did you meet Karin-san, then?" Ninako added, seeing Hajime's mouth tighten. "I'm curious."

"Oh, I met Karin when I met Sasuke…"

"At the same time?"

"Yes, she was with him at the time, as his medic… Though, we got separated, later," he added, before any more could be asked. "We all did. She found me after the war. I was lost for a very long time."

"Oh, I see…" Ninako said.

"Because of her, I… actually have a lot more control of myself." He sounded proud as he said this, though sadly so. "I can't… control a lot of things, still, but I can at least try to steer myself out of the way, or tell people to run away so I don't hurt them…"

"That's very good, Juugo-san," Sakari said. This made him smile.

"I still can't live in any sort of… city or town, though, I'm not strong enough for that…" Juugo continued. His face fell. "It'd make things so much easier for Asaoto if I could just live in Ryokyo, where she is, so we wouldn't have to rely on trapdoors and things…"

"It's okay, Juugo-san, don't feel bad about those sorts of things," Sakari said.

"So how long have you known her, exactly?" Ninako asked.

"Oh… I can't remember, but it was before Asaoto was born…"

"Where is Asaoto-kun's mother? If you don't mind me asking," Sakari said, carefully.

"He… doesn't have a mother…" Juugo said. "I've... well, Karin's helped, but I've had to raise him alone…"

"You poor thing…" Sakari said. "How old is he?"

"Six? I think? I don't know how old he was when I took him in…"

"So he's not your biological son?" Jimichi said.

"I don't… think so. But he's my son. He is," Juugo said.

"Of course, Juugo-san," Sakari said, though the glance she shared with her teammates afterwards was slightly uneasy.

"So she has been helping you? The both of you?" Ninako said. Juugo nodded. "Maybe that's why he's not on our records, if she's taking care of him herself."

"We'll ask her when we get there," Hajime said.

"Sounds like a plan, Boss," said Sakari.

They ran onward.