Author's Note
I've just found out that In The Blood now has a TV Tropes page! You can find it here: tvtropes(.)org/pmwiki/pmwiki(.)php/Fanfic/InTheBlood
Feel free to read and edit as you like!
I'd also like to take this opportunity, with a major plotline wrapping up, to thank everyone that's read this fic over the past year or so. A lot of questions will be answered over the next few chapters, and I'd love to hear how I did. Leave me a review with your thoughts, I'll gladly reply!
The best is yet to come, and I hope you enjoy it.
Cheers!
- Rii
Chapter 70 - Galliard a Battuta
Across the city, a young man nearly ten years Inou's senior was stumbling down a hallway, flanked by two T&I members. Moegi led them.
As promised, they had brought Ooda to the hospital. Through the back, of course. Ooda's existence was still highly classified, and his transport to the hospital was taken in obscure directions and very much out of sight. He kept his head and his arms covered with the blanket they had given him.
Though, naturally, Sakura was informed of his arrival, and she was one of the first to receive them.
"We have a space prepared," she said, after a terse, bare excuse of a greeting, trying to keep her voice from shaking too much, "in a private wing."
"Excellent. And Karin?" Moegi said.
"I… haven't said anything to her yet," Sakura said.
"Well, bring her here. I have some questions for her."
Ooda's mouth was slightly open, and trembling. His body looked like it was made of paper.
Sakura had to swallow, breathing deeply, in an attempt to handle the dissonance. Even battered and tied up in a chair, he had never looked so weak.
"I'll get her once we get… him stabilized," she said. "Though I… would like a little more information about what's going on."
"Fair enough," said Moegi. "We'll talk as we go. Lead on."
Sakura led them down the hallways to a small, private room on the first floor, on the other side of the hospital. The few nurses, interns that they passed stared, though Sakura glared at them in return, in defense.
"…well, didn't you have questions for me?" Moegi said, when Sakura's silence continued.
"Oh. Well, um. For one, what's the current situation with Orochimaru?" she said. "Is, um. This person an impostor?"
"Yes, I, I am…" Ooda said, talking over whatever response Moegi had prepared. "My real name is… it's Ooda. It's Ooda, that's my name… I'm not Orochimaru…"
"Oh, I… see," Sakura said. "And… who exactly are you, Ooda… san? If you're not Orochimaru."
"…just a copy…" Ooda said. "I'm just a copy…"
"A copy? As in a… clone…?" Sakura got a nod in return. "So were you made by Orochimaru, then, or…?"
Ooda just kept his head down, his mouth tightened into a precursor of tears.
"…at any rate, Ooda-san. I understand your impersonation was for Karin's sake?" Moegi said.
"…yes, I can't let… she's my mom, if anything happened to her…" was all he could manage.
A stone in Sakura's stomach. "She's your mother…?"
Ooda's nods were very quick.
More stone-questions fell into Sakura's stomach. "Well, I'll… I think that's all I need to know for now, but is it okay if I ask you questions later?"
Ooda swallowed. "Just… my mom, first, please, let me see her…"
"For once, I think his needs coincide with ours," Moegi said, with a sideways glance. "Though treatment first, I think. Don't want to break you any further, Ooda-san."
Ooda said nothing.
Sakura said, "Yes, treatment first."
She had a general medic or two stationed at the room for Ooda, once they reached it. "I want you to heal anything you find. I don't care who he is or what he looks like, he is a patient and he will be treated or I will end you."
Moegi's eyebrows rose with her curling smile. (What a marvelous tone of voice, she thought.)
"I'll… go talk to Karin," Sakura said. "In the meantime, Moegi-chan-"
"I'm staying here until she arrives," Moegi said. "Get her here however you can. I have questions."
"…please don't hurt her…" Ooda said. "You can… you can hurt me more if you want but please, not her…"
Moegi's pause surprised even her.
"I doubt I'll need to resort to any of that," she said, and cleared her throat. "Sakura-sensei, if you would."
"…right. I'll try not to take long."
Though she ended up wondering how in the world she was going to get Karin to come with her.
It preoccupied her thoughts the entire way across the hospital, from the private ward to the curse seal ward.
…was this her son or something? Truthfully? Or was it a ruse? No, it couldn't have been a ruse, because Moegi was there and she didn't contradict him.
So he… had to have been. Somehow. Somehow?
What in the world was going on?
Focus, Sakura, focus, come on, focus.
Karin needed to come with her.
It would help something.
But by the time she made it to Karin's room in the curse seal ward, she had only a bare idea of how to present the situation.
Think fast, for fuck's sake!
Karin was mixing another glass of red medicine, and she turned around with plain-written worry on her face. "Sakura? What's wrong?"
Think FAST.
"Karin, you… you need to come with me."
Oh, GREAT.
"Why, what's going on?"
"It's… I can't explain. Just come with me, it's an… order."
Karin's face tried to twist itself into a smile. "An order? Am I your subordinate now?"
"No, it's…" One breath, two breaths. "Karin, it's… your son."
The silence was painful.
(Karin was the only person in the room. Suigetsu and Shingetsu's absence was almost blessed.)
"But I don't… have a son," Karin finally replied. "I… I don't have children, I don't… what are you talking about?"
Sakura couldn't tell if it was worry or fear or genuine confusion on her face.
Or all three.
The facts came far too easily, but that just meant that it was probably the right thing to say.
"There's… a young man in our care, at the moment. He claims his name is… Ooda. He says he's your son. He… wants to see you."
Probably.
The hand that wasn't holding Karin's glass of medicine rose to her mouth.
And she didn't say anything.
Sakura managed to continue. "Please, you have to come with me. We have questions for the both of you and…"
Karin's hand, the fingers on her lips curled into a loose fist, with her thumb pressed against her mouth.
"Karin, please."
"Quiet, I'll… just—give me a moment, okay?" she said. She took her medicine and gulped it down with a pained expression, swallowing nothing for a few moments afterward, her eyes closed. She put the glass down on the counter by the sink.
And when she opened her eyes, she said, quietly, "Take me to him."
She kept her eyes lowered the entire walk down. Sakura didn't feel like saying anything, the tightness in her chest weighing down any other—necessary?—words. Karin, likewise, was silent.
But in approaching Ooda's room, she was hesitant, her steps slowing near the door.
One of Ooda's arms, smattered with bruises, was presently unwrapped and being healed by one of the medics. He was hunched over himself, otherwise.
Until Karin, eventually, went in.
The very sight of her caused him to sit up straighter; he pulled his arm away from the medic.
"Mom…?"
He tried to stand. His blanket slipped off his shoulders.
"Mom…!"
There was a meager resistance to this.
Clumsily, almost tripping over himself, he began across the room and to Karin's very still body, and he threw his arms around her, awkward though it was, with his full head of height above her.
But he clung to her so tightly that Sakura thought that he would crack her, as if she were hollow inside.
"Mom, Mom I'm, I'm so sorry, I'm, Mom I'm so sorry are you okay Mom I'm so… Mom please don't go anywhere I'm so… Mom…!"
But Karin, she saw, clung back, with open hands on his back.
"Ooda, Ooda, darling, it's okay, calm down, calm down…"
She dug her head into his chest as he buried his face into her shoulder. Her voice was very soft.
"Mom, I'm so sorry, I ruined everything, I'm, I just… Mom, I'm sorry, I just wanted to protect you…"
He was very, very clearly crying.
"It's okay, Ooda. Ooda." She pulled herself away from him, trying to speak into his ear, the closest thing to his face she could address. "Ooda, it's okay. Just calm down, Ooda, okay? I'm not mad at you, I'm not."
His back hiccupped, though his posture began to relax.
"Mom I'm so sorry, I just… I'm sorry…" Sniff. "I wanted to say something but I couldn't and… and…" He fell into a wail.
"Ooda, it's okay, it really is." She was running her hand down his back, now. "Calm down, darling. Calm down. It's okay. Calm down."
He was shaking his head, curling deeper into her shoulder. "No, no, no, no, I, I ruined everything, I, I tried not to tell them anything important but they… they went into my head, Mom, and they took things and they made me… they made me… Mom are you okay, Mom, are you, please tell me you're okay…"
"I'm okay, little darling, I'm okay, I'm okay, shh, I'm okay…" But as Ooda continued to shrink into her arms, she looked up and at Sakura, who was trying to hide her astonishment.
And there was such an incredible pain in her eyes.
Pain, and rage.
"What have you done to him…?" she seethed.
Karin could be very intimidating if she wanted to be and oh was she ever here.
"We interrogated him for information that we assumed he had," Moegi said, snatching away her gaze. "After all, he claimed to be Orochimaru and he seemed to be hiding a great deal of information about a very pertinent series of human experiments."
"They, they went in my head, Mom… I, I didn't say anything when they hurt me I could handle that but they went into my head and… Mom I'm sorry, I ruined everything, they, I couldn't stop them, I'm sorry…"
"You mean you tortured him?" Karin's voice cut over the mumbles and sniffles and misery with sheer, concentrated anger.
"Not extensively," Moegi replied.
"Mom, I'm sorry…" Ooda said. "I tried, I really tried…"
"Ooda, shh, it's not your fault," Karin whispered, bending her head, before snapping it back up to look in Moegi's eyes. She took several, deep breaths. "I'm going to… try and be objective about this, since there's." A pause, another deep breath. Her hand ran over Ooda's back again. "Obviously been some misunderstanding and—misdirection going on. But you still tortured an innocent."
"Somehow I get the feeling that nobody is entirely innocent, here," Moegi said. "We found some very interesting information in that man's mind. It's raised a lot of questions. You will answer them."
"I refuse to answer any questions," Karin said, "until my son is at least somewhat recovered."
"So he's really…" Sakura breathed.
Karin said nothing, her red, accusing eyes locked on Moegi.
"Fair enough," Moegi said. "We weren't planning on questioning him until he was treated, anyways."
"You will not be told anything until then," Karin said. "Am I understood?"
"You are," Moegi said.
(Her heart had quickened, slightly. Maybe from the prospect of more information, maybe from those hard, red eyes.)
"At any rate, a hospital is no place for a torturer," Karin said, lowly.
(Moegi took this as a slight compliment.)
"Sakura, can you get her out of here?"
When she turned to look at her, Karin had lost all but the silhouette of her anger, the rest of her filled with softness and.
"…Moegi-san, if you would, please. I'll… have your team informed when they're ready to talk," Sakura said.
"Whatever you say, Haruno-sensei. I'll be waiting."
Moegi and her assistants left the room, but a great deal of her presence remained after the fact.
Sakura stayed in the doorway. Watching, silently.
Ooda wasn't crying much, any more, but he was now struggling to stand.
"Let's go, Ooda, let's sit you down…" Karin murmured, turning around, turning the hug into a crutch for him to lean on. She began leading him back to the table, and the medics. "Oh, darling, you must be hurting so badly…"
"Mom, it's… not so bad, really, so long as you're okay…"
Karin sat him down on the table, first, and then sat beside him. "You shouldn't have had to do this, okay? Ooda, really, why did you come here…?"
"…I got worried…"
She sighed. "I left a note for you, I told you when I'd be back."
"Yeah but… but with the little one so close and… and you… you left me alone and I wasn't there and Mom, I just… I panicked…"
Karin, in hearing this, frowned and leaned in closer. "Ooda, I'm sorry, okay? I know how you get when I leave you alone in the house, I'm sorry, this is my fault, okay?" She wrapped an arm around his back in a hug, resting her temple against his shoulder.
"Mom it's not your fault it's mine I just—aahhhh ahh ah ah ow ow ow ow…"
Karin let go very, very quickly. "Ooda, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing it's." He winced, sucking in his breath. "Mom, it's nothing…"
"No, really. Is it your ribs? Are they damaged?"
"I don't… know…"
"Ma'am, if I may..." One of the medics was speaking with a voice like a mouse. "A few of… his ribs are broken and, um… we're trying to treat him…"
"Well then someone get me a chair!" Karin said. She got off the table but she wrapped a hand around one of Ooda's hands and did not let go. "And for heaven's sake take care of that, okay?"
One of the medics made a squeaking noise and got a chair from a far wall. Karin put it in front of Ooda and sat on it, and rubbed his hand with both of hers.
"Ooda, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," she said.
"It's okay, Mom, it's okay…" Ooda said.
(Not telling her that the act of hugging her a few moments previous had filled his body with such an excruciating pain that he was almost glad he was crying so much to begin with, so it wouldn't worry her.)
(Because he needed it, he needed her so badly.)
"Um, excuse me, your arm…" The mouse medic had a hand outstretched. "I'd like to continue healing it, I'm sure you would, too."
"Ah, thank you…"
Quietly, she continued her work on his right arm. Karin took his left hand instead, running a thumb over the back of it, her head bent.
"…why did you do this, Ooda…?" she said, quietly, after a time. "I told you, if you ever ran into someone from the old days to just tell them who you really were, that you were my son."
"…I didn't think it through entirely…"
"Well obviously not, little one, I just want to know why, okay?"
The medic had moved from his forearm to his shoulder in the time it took for him to answer.
Sakura waited, listening.
"…got caught on the way down by… some… some man, he recognized me as him. And—from the way he treated me—he called me Master, Mom, it was... I was terrified by what would happen if I… wasn't him."
"A man…?" Karin said. Ooda nodded. "What kind of man? Who was he?"
"I… I never caught his name, actually…" Ooda said. "That's… well that's why he tried to. To." He swallowed. "Hurt me so badly. The first time. I thought I was going to die…"
"Oh, darling…" Karin rubbed his hands further. "He tried to hurt you because of his name?"
"Because I didn't… know it," Ooda said. "He asked me if I remembered his name and I… well, I tried to stall but he got impatient and started freaking out. Started… calling me a false snake, over and over, and I couldn't do anything to get away… He—he must have been some former. Sound ninja or something, except he didn't act right at all, he didn't feel human, even…"
"So that's who the attacker was, that night you arrived?" Sakura cut in. She had her hand half-raised. "This, um. Sound ninja whoever?"
(The thought of calling for Moegi to bear witness to this sudden explanation did not even cross her mind.)
Ooda nodded, again. "I only went with him because I was scared of what would happen if I… denied being. Him." He lowered his head. "I guess that wasn't good enough…"
"Well I'm just glad you're all right, Ooda, okay?" Karin said, leaning forward. "Regardless of who that… man was. But… why did you keep up this… whole act here?"
Ooda's smile was a wince that stretched into the bandage on his cheek. "…I had a lot of time to think after he… went away. I didn't really see what happened to him. But I couldn't move. He—he did something to my back. It hurt so much and, and I couldn't move, so I just thought—it—I just—thought, if I was found, if I didn't die, then…"
His hand tightened under Karin's and a tear began its way down his cheek.
"…they already knew about Kiine, and about Yakata, and then Asaoto, maybe, and Mom if they found me… well, maybe I could… convince them of something, so they wouldn't… do anything to you, at least." A hiccup-gulp. "I'm… I'm sorry, that was… I don't know what I was thinking, but the next thing I knew I was him, I was Orochimaru. And I couldn't... I couldn't stop. Mom I'm sorry, I must have worried you so much…"
The medic stopped her work on Ooda's right arm. The other medic had long since put her hands on his back, concentrating on the stressed bones beneath the muscle and skin.
He covered the top of his face, his nose and his eyes, with his hand.
Karin put her hand on his bandaged cheek. "Ooda, I've never been so worried in my life, okay? You didn't need to do this…"
"…I just wanted to protect you, to… I don't know, get them to stop looking… So they'd leave you alone…"
Karin stroked his cheek, gently.
"You didn't need to do this, darling," she said, again. She tilted her head, leaning, slumping forward. "You didn't need to suffer so much for… me, okay?"
"…not just for you," he said softly. He sniffed, and rubbed at one eye with his hand.
"Ooda…" She sighed. "You are too good. You are simply too good, okay…?"
He wince-smiled again, though his shoulders rose from the combination of the smile and Karin's touch.
She pulled her hand away. "Does your face hurt?" she asked. He nodded. "Oh, darling, I'm sorry…"
But it was in remembering an encounter, terrifying and stressing but with an unbruised cheek, that she noticed: "Did they do this to your face too?"
"They…?" Ooda said.
"Those—that awful woman, when they were questioning you. Were they the ones that hurt your face?"
(Sakura suddenly remembered.)
(And wondered if she should speak up about it.)
"I, I don't… it happened while I was here," Ooda said. "I have—a black eye, too. And my jaw hurts a lot."
"Oh, Ooda…" Karin glanced sideways, sharply. "Can one of you take care of that, please?"
"Ma'am, we're trying to go slowly," the mouse-medic said. "Be, um. Careful."
"Oh screw going slowly." Karin breathed in, breathed out, and she reached for her sleeve and pushed it up her forearm. The skin was covered in with faintly-shining rings of flesh.
Old scars.
"Ooda, go ahead," she said. "It'll make things easier."
He shook his head almost violently. "No, no, I, I couldn't…"
"Ooda. I want you feeling better, okay? Bite me."
The medics stopped their work to stare in bafflement for a moment.
More shaking. "Mom, the… the little one needs that blood more than me, I can… wait. I can wait."
"You can't. Ooda, please don't lie to me, okay…? I know how much you're hurting." She held her arm out further. "This'll make things easier."
"…isn't Shingetsu here…?"
Her arm lowered.
"Mom, it'd be better if I… we got him to help instead, not you, not—Mom, not you."
Karin put her hand back in her lap, covering her arm with her sleeve again.
"…I mean, he… he's here, right? Because I can wait if he isn't, Mom, it's okay…"
"…he… is here. And he keeps asking about you, you know?" She made an effort at a laugh. "I… haven't been able to figure out what to tell him, except that you're far away and that I didn't… know when you'd be coming back. He'd be glad to see you, though…"
"…then can we…? Get him, I mean. Mom, I don't want to worry you but I don't want to hurt you either…"
Karin looked over her shoulder at Sakura, leaning against the doorframe as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.
"Sakura, please. Shingetsu—you know, Suigetsu's… son—he's… a better healer than me, in some ways. He'd help," she said. "I don't want to leave Ooda alone, okay?"
The medics' stares, confused and faintly frightened, only compounded the request.
"I'll…" Sakura collected herself with an inward breath. "What do you want me to tell him?"
"Just… whatever you need," Karin said. "If Suigetsu wants to come with him, let him. It's fine, okay? They should be in Juugo's room."
Sakura nodded. "You two, in the meantime," she told the medics, "keep with the healing measures until I get back. I'll be back soon with… Shingetsu-kun."
"Yes, ma'am."
She saw, heard Karin returning to her comfort as she left for the hallway.
She tried not to let it affect her as she walked.
It really, really was unsettling, how quickly Karin could shift her moods.
Though it was the subject, the situation, the context—and this Sakura knew, she knew—that was unsettling her more. That iceberg feeling, the groping in the dark. Horribly out of the loop, at best.
She struggled to define for herself what—who?—Ooda really was.
Self-professed copy—clone? Got it.
Found by—some Sound ninja—those people still existed?—that mistook him for the real deal. Continued the façade out of desperation? Sure.
To protect Karin? Seems like.
…but from what?
A sharp seed of an idea began digging its way into her temple. That Ooda, this face-sharer.
Being used, just like his mother had been.
(Because somehow, with their actions and that heartbreaking rhythm of words and apologies, this felt like the only concrete thing.)
(That boy—whoever or whatever he was—was her son.)
But how?
The nagging ache of the speculation was not allowed to grow much further, because someone was yelling for her, and she knew that voice very well.
"Sakura! Sakura! Sa-ku-ra! Hey! Where are you? I need to talk to you, y'know!"
Naruto, she discovered, was in the lobby. Sasuke was with them. The both of them were slightly out of breath.
Oh, dear. "Naruto, what's going on?" she said.
"You tell me! Sasuke just… ran to my office telling me that we got the wrong guy…?"
Sasuke's face was full of unspoken demands.
"My office. But we can't take long," Sakura said. She began down the hallway, toward the stairs.
"Why, what's got you in such a hurry," Sasuke said.
"Well, gee, Sasuke, I don't know. It could be the fact that we've been questioning the wrong guy for the past few days and it's only given us more questions to answer and I've got Karin downstairs with him and I've got to get him treated and." She turned around and stopped, for a second, glaring at him, for emphasis. "I think you get the idea."
The look on Sasuke's face told her that, oh yes, he got the idea. They continued.
"So… if that guy isn't Orochimaru, who is he?" Naruto asked, once he knew it was safe.
"The only thing I know," Sakura said, "is that he's Karin's son. Somehow. Possibly?" She exhaled in frustration. "I don't know. Nothing's certain."
"That lying bitch," Sasuke muttered.
It took Sakura every effort not to slap him. Instead, she said, "Can it." They reached her office, and she closed the door behind him. "Both of you, sit down." They did, with (unsurprising, considering her tone) obedience. "Sasuke, how did you find out about this in the first place?"
"Apparently," he said, voice rough with disdain, "they drafted my youngest son for an interrogation. Came home exhausted from it. My father-in-law assisted him and told me about it, briefly. I went to get Naruto afterward."
"Yeah, he kinda told me when he got to my office," Naruto said. "I went and looked into it afterward to see what was up."
"And what did he tell you, exactly?" Sakura asked him. "About the interrogation."
"That." He shook his head, breathing out harshly, mumbling, "I can't believe this." Louder. "That we had an impostor of Orochimaru on our hands. That his name was really Ooda or something."
"I see," Sakura said.
"And I found out that he was at the hospital, so that's what brings us here," Naruto added. "The interrogation guys were kinda lookin' for me, anyways."
"Said he was covering for Karin," Sasuke said.
"Yeah, this whole thing is… kind of confusing," Naruto said. "Then again I kinda—well, we kinda—don't have the full story." He nodded a few times. "Can you clue us in on anything, Sakura, or…?"
"Frankly, I don't know much more than you guys," Sakura said. "He's still talking—mostly to Karin, though he answered a few of my own questions, so obviously he's still cooperative. But all we've really learned is that the man he was with before we found him was apparently a former Sound ninja that mistook him for Orochimaru and tried to kill him when he blew his cover. Not a 'prototype' or whatever."
"Wait, those guys are still around?" Naruto said.
Sakura shrugged. "That's just what he assumed, I mean, since he was recognized and all that."
"I suppose that makes sense," Naruto said, crossing his arms and nodding.
(After all, that was how he'd helped in stabilizing the Land of Rain, after the war. Working with the cults, and not against them.)
(Even now, decades after their deaths, Pain and Konan were revered as revolutionary martyrs, even as gods, by many citizens.)
"So we're back where we started, aren't we," Sasuke said. He leaned back in his chair, scowling. "If he's an imposter then who the hell knows what lies we've been fed. By him and Karin."
"Well that's what we're gonna try and find out, Sasuke," Sakura said. "Obviously we've been… misled a little."
"A lot."
"Sasuke."
"I'm just saying."
"Dude, calm down, okay?" Naruto put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke jerked away and crossed his arms, scowling further. "We'll figure out what's up. I mean, he's being cooperative, right?"
"Yes." Sakura looked up a little. "Actually, I was supposed to go get Shingetsu-kun, Suigetsu-san's son."
"And why is that," Sasuke said.
"Apparently," she replied, "he's a healer? Karin told me to get him, to spur on Ooda's recovery. Doubtless he'll be more willing to talk if we heal his injuries."
"Yeah, I bet," Naruto said. He nodded a few times. "Man. I really wonder what's going on here. I really do. I mean, with this Ooda guy…"
"Honestly," Sakura said, almost hesitantly, "I'm wondering if he's just as helpless as Karin is. I mean, the things that were done to her… Maybe the real Orochimaru's still out there, that he just used Ooda to cover for him or-"
"Stop speculating and actually do something," Sasuke said, sharply. "We can get answers, can't we? Let's get answers."
Much as she hated his frankness, sometimes, it was a needed slap in the face here. Her hands had been trembling, but they stilled, now. "Yeah. I'm gonna go get Shingetsu-kun. The sooner we clear things up, the better." She stood.
Sasuke stood as well. "I'm coming with you," he said.
"Sasuke, I don't… think that's the best idea," she said.
"Why."
"Well… you kind of lost your composure last time you came with us."
"That was a different set of circumstances." He shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Dude, you kinda punched him in the face," Naruto said, leaning forward in getting up. "I dunno, I'd probably be kinda scared or whatever if I saw you again."
"That was," Sasuke repeated, "a different set of circumstances. I'll." A groan. "I'll behave."
"You'd better," Sakura said. She began on her way out, but she ended up stopping and pointing her finger at his chest. "But if he wants you out—if any of them want you out—you leave." Jab. "Got it?"
"…no need to be so harsh, I got it," Sasuke said, pushing past her with a pinched expression. "Come on, let's go."
They went. She led, Naruto hanging in the back.
Once again, she entered the curse seal ward, and poked her head into Juugo's room. "Suigetsu-san, are you there?"
Curiously, it was only him and his son in the room. Suigetsu was leaning against the wall, as usual, but Shingetsu was on his stomach on the floor, drawing on a large pad of white paper with markers. His white cape—or whatever it was that he was always wearing—was spread out over the floor.
"Yeah, what," Suigetsu said.
"…where's Juugo-san?" she asked, waving with her hand to keep Naruto and Sasuke from peeking into the doorframe.
"…in therapy or something? Some orderly guys took him and Asaoto somewhere like an hour ago. Why, you looking for him?" Suigetsu said.
"No, actually, I'm looking for your son," Sakura said.
Shingetsu's head whipped up immediately. "You're looking for me?" He had a smile with small, barely-pointed teeth, like pebbles. "What is it? What's going on?"
"And why are you looking for my son?" Suigetsu said. He began toward Sakura.
"Karin's asking for him."
"You mean Mommy? What's Mommy need?" Shingetsu was standing, scattering a few markers in the process. "I wanna help."
Suigetsu's face narrowed, though it was not an angry narrow. "What's going on," he said.
"She needs him to help heal someone, apparently."
"Who." He was at the door, now. She could see him breathing.
"Ooda," she replied.
"Ooda-niki?" Shingetsu appeared at his father's legs, magenta eyes wide. "Ooda-niki's here? Where is he? Where?"
Sakura didn't know what to make of his enthusiasm, but she could at least keep it from harming her by taking another, deep breath. "Karin says you can come with him, if you want," she told Suigetsu. "But we… really need Shingetsu-kun's assistance."
Suigetsu stared at the floor for fair long while, his mouth slightly open. "…if she needs him then that's fine. But I'm going with him, I'm not leaving my son alone."
Sakura nodded. "Both of you, then. Come with me."
Shingetsu held onto his father's left arm as they left, though Suigetsu scowled when he saw, "Sasuke, the hell are you doing here."
"I want to know what's going on. That's all," he replied.
Suigetsu said nothing, in return.
They went down the hallway together.
Shingetsu, eventually, tugged on his Suigetsu's arm. "Daddy, is Ooda-niki in trouble…?" he whispered, as if only his father could hear him.
"I don't know," Suigetsu replied.
"Sure hope he isn't…" Shingetsu continued. "If Mommy wants me to heal him then that's prob'ly bad, I think…"
"Nobody said you had to heal him," Suigetsu said.
Sakura didn't feel like correcting him.
Eventually, they got to the private ward. The two medics were still working on Ooda. Karin hadn't moved from her chair.
Sakura knocked on the doorframe. "Karin? We brought him."
She turned around as well as she could. Her face looked very tired, but it smoothed with relief. "Oh, thank goodness… Shingetsu, over here, I need your help."
The boy ran without a moment of hesitation and over to the chair and the table, his father trailing behind. "Mommy, Mommy, okay, what can I help wi—Ooda-niki! Ooda-niki, is that you?"
"…hello, Shingetsu," Ooda replied. If he was smiling, it wasn't very visible.
Shingetsu flung his arms over Ooda's lap, looking up with supreme concern. "Why you all beat up, Ooda-niki?"
"I… got into some trouble."
"What kinda trouble? Was it bad people?"
"…yes, Shingetsu, some bad people," Karin said, quietly.
"Well that's bad." He looked at her, frowning. "That's seriously bad, Mommy."
"I know it's bad, little brother," Ooda said. "…but you can make it better, can't you?" he added, gently.
"I wanna help," said Shingetsu.
"Can you let Ooda drink some of you, little one?" Karin said. "He's hurting very badly."
The medics had long since left the table, hovering near Sakura, by the door, worried schoolgirl expressions on their faces.
"I'll do my very very best!" Shingetsu replied.
Sakura, at the door, held up a hand. "Be quiet as you're coming in," she told Sasuke and Naruto. "And Sasuke, remember what I said."
"I know."
They moved in.
Shingetsu, meanwhile, had pulled back the purple sleeve of his shirt. His already-pale skin began turning blue and transparent. "You drink up as much as you need, okay, Ooda-niki? I want you to feel better."
"Don't overdo it," Suigetsu said.
"I'll… try not to," Ooda said.
Shingetsu lifted his hand to Ooda's mouth and, very gently, he bit and began to drink.
A few seconds passed, and then a few more.
When Shingetsu's knees began to buckle, his father caught him. "I told you not to overdo it!" he said.
"I'm sorry…!" Ooda said.
Shingetsu's limbs were floppy and translucent, blending into his clothes and cape. His eyelids fluttered, but he was smiling a little. "You… feeling better… Ooda-niki…?"
Ooda was rubbing his right eye, the bruise over it disappearing. "…a lot better, little brother, thank you."
Sakura cleared her throat. "Is everything all right, here?"
Karin turned around again. "Yes, it's exactly what we nee…" But she stopped, just like the others, when she saw Sasuke. "It's what we needed."
Naruto leaned out from behind Sakura. "Hey, Karin-san? And Ooda-san, you too, I wanna apologize for all this trouble. Really, this is kinda bad, y'know?"
"Don't apologize, it's pretty much entirely my fault…" Ooda said. He kept his face down.
"I… appreciate the gesture," Karin said. "This whole thing's a mess, though. It's not all your fault, okay?"
"I'm sorry…" Ooda mumbled again.
"Ooda, please."
Shingetsu was starting to solidify a little, leaning against the wall where Suigetsu had carried him. His eyes were closed, and he kept making little sighing, sleepy noises. His father stayed on the floor with him, crouched on one knee.
"Karin, is there anything else you need?" Sakura said. "For you or… Ooda-san both. Or Shingetsu-kun or-"
"I think we'll be fine for now," Karin said.
Sakura nodded. "I'm willing to allow you—all of you—to stay as long as you need to in my hospital. Anything you need."
"I appreciate it."
The continued, sighing silence was intensely uncomfortable, and Sasuke's presence was doing nothing to help it.
SAY something, already.
"…I just want to let you know, Karin, Ooda-san. You have our full protection. Naruto," she added, looking over her shoulder, "you won't let anything happen to either of them, won't you?"
"No, of course not! I wouldn't let that happen, y'know." Though as he concluded the sentence, he looked up, face pinched in thought. "I mean. Well, you're kinda not Orochimaru. Right?"
Ooda shook his still-lowered head, miserably.
"Right! So if anyone tries to hurt you 'cos of that or whatever then they're gonna answer directly to me, okay? I won't let anything happen to you."
His gaze wandered, for a moment, toward Sasuke.
Sasuke was looking at a wall.
"Thank you very much…" Ooda said.
Another sighing silence.
Sakura, for lack of a better action, waved the two visibly-uncomfortable medics out of the room.
"…now, Karin, I don't… want to rush either of you in this but we do want you to answer some questions for us, soon," Sakura said, trying to shake the words out of her throat with a cough in the middle. "Both of you, if Ooda-san's feeling better."
"I understand," Karin said.
Another.
Sakura took a step forward and put a tentative hand on Karin's shoulder. "I promise, no matter what you tell us, we won't let anything happen to you."
"…are you honestly so sure of that," Karin said.
"Honest. Karin, I understand that none of this was in your control, none of this is your fault. You were forced into this. All of you here were… weren't you?"
"Yeah, if it's not your fault then it's okay, y'know? I gotcha," Naruto added, helpfully.
Sasuke said nothing.
"You don't need to worry about reprisal, we'll take care of that," Sakura said. "Orochimaru… won't be able to do a thing to any of you."
And Karin, of all things, laughed. Just once.
Ooda's head lowered, further.
"…you're so willing to call me a victim," she said.
"Karin, I never said-" Sakura began.
"It's not reprisal I'm scared of, okay?" Karin said, not looking at any of them. "Punishment, yes. But not reprisal."
"Then we won't let him punish you."
Karin, for a time, just blinked, slowly, looking at her hands, resting on her stomach.
Sasuke said nothing.
"Karin, honestly-"
"It would… be so easy," she said, suddenly. "Honestly, so… easy. You're all being so… accommodating." She looked up. "You want to help me so badly, don't you…?"
"I do, Karin," Sakura said, with her heart in her voice.
"Yeah, you've been through some bad stuff. How could I not wanna help?" Naruto said.
Sasuke said nothing.
And Karin finally looked at them. "…I'm too tired to do that," she said. "I can't… keep lying any more. I've been quiet for far too long and, honestly, all things considered? It'd probably hurt more just trying to perpetuate that, okay? I can't stay silent any longer."
"Mom, what are you talking about?" Ooda reached out with a much-stronger hand. "You aren't…"
"Ooda," she told him, covering his hand with hers, "I won't make you say a thing. This isn't your fault, okay? You don't have to say anything. You don't have to talk."
"Karin…?" Sakura said.
Karin returned to her. "I want you to promise me two things, before I say anything more," she said.
"You mean you're going to answer our questions or-"
"I am going to talk. Whether or not it answers your questions remains to be seen, though I doubt they're the answers you were… looking for," Karin said. "But first, promise me these things, okay?"
"Hey, anything you want," Naruto said, half-eagerly.
Karin almost looked apologetic, as she spoke. "I want you to promise me that you—all three of you—yes, Sasuke, I am allowing you to stay because you deserve to hear this as much as they do," she added, with a wire-sharp glare, "that none of you will say anything until I'm done speaking, okay?"
"No questions until the end, you mean?" Sakura said.
"As best as you can," Karin replied. "That is my first condition. The second is that… no matter what I say, no matter what you think of me after all of this, that any punishment I receive is justified by the law alone."
"Mom, what are you doing…" Ooda's hand tightened over hers.
"Justified…? Karin, what do you-"
"Make. Me. This. Promise," Karin said.
"I promise," Naruto said, because Sakura could not.
She took several breaths in the chair, after that. Collecting herself.
At the wall, by the sleeping half-puddle boy, Suigetsu tensed, not taking his eyes off of her.
"…you'll probably want to close the door. And get some chairs. This might… take a while, okay…?" Karin finally said.
The door was closed. Chairs were gotten.
Sasuke said nothing. None of them did.
And Karin, when she was ready—and it took her far less time than even she had expected, to steel herself—admitted the truth.
"Orochimaru isn't behind this. Any of this. He's been dead for… years, I don't know why you so willingly… believed that he brought himself back, somehow. Whatever you told them, Ooda, it must have been a good story…" she added, quietly, with a bare smirk.
"…I told them that he transferred his mind into my body remotely, after I was born…" Ooda said. "You remember… he had that whole journal about it. He never went through with it but it sorta gave me an idea for an explanation…"
"You smart boy," Karin said. Ooda tensed from the compliment.
She smiled at him for only a moment more, before continuing.
"Honestly, you've all been chasing shadows, okay? I've been aware of it from the start, and I just… want to put it to rest, finally. He is not responsible for the creation of these children, and neither is my son. I am."