Chapter 123 - Free Prisoner
Upon receiving the assignment that they were to attempt to extract Orochimaru's psyche from the mind of Honbo Yakata, or to pull the boy forth and back into control, the Torture and Interrogation department knew exactly who they needed to hire.
Moegi herself went to the Yamanaka compound to get him.
"We have a mission for Uchiha Inou," she announced, when she was greeted at Inoichi's door. "Is he available?"
Inou was indeed available, and agreed to go with her without much need for explanation.
(He already had an idea as to why he'd be needed.)
"Do you need me, as well?" Inoichi asked, as they were leaving.
"No, Inoichi-sama. But I appreciate your asking," Moegi replied, and with Inou beside her, began towards the hospital.
Inou spoke to her not far from the house. "Erm, Moegi-san, ma'am, why do you need just me and not my grandfather? If you don't mind my asking."
Moegi looked over the line of her shoulder at him. "It isn't obvious? Everyone in the department is well aware that you're far more skilled than he is, especially after your impressive display with the Orochimaru clone. You alone are more than enough for us." One side of her lip curled, upward. "Does that answer your question?"
"Y-yes, ma'am," Inou said, quivering with recognition.
(Moegi's smile grew, seeing the rise of power over him.)
And she proceeded to inform him of his mission, and he, once again, accepted.
Nadeshiko was in Yakata's hospital room, when they entered. She sat by his bedside, still in the clothes she had entered in. When she blinked, her eyelashes fluttered slightly; she was exhausted, clearly, and seeing this distressed Inou.
"You okay there, Nadeshiko?" he asked.
"Don't worry about me," was her dry-breath reply.
"Would you like for her to leave?" Moegi asked; her hands were folded behind her back.
(Nadeshiko had one hand clenched into the sheets below Yakata's bed, her knuckles white, the closest she could bring herself to touching him.)
"…no, let her stay," Inou said. "Yakata-kun… is really close to her. It'll help, knowing she's here, waiting for him."
Nadeshiko's head, with its tattered hair, tilted to her lap.
"Very well, then. Are you able to get into a comfortable reading position?" Moegi continued.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Keep in mind that he is heavily sedated, so things may be somewhat more difficult," she continued. "If you need assistance-"
"I think I'll be able to manage on my own, ma'am," Inou said, raising his hand to stop her. "If I can't, I'll be sure to ask."
"Very well," Moegi said again, her voice pulled in. "Proceed."
"Yes, ma'am."
Inou gently positioned his hand over Yakata's forehead, spreading his fingers so that they cupped the crown.
He closed his eyes, and he dove.
Deep.
He had to worm his way through much material on the way; layers upon layers of slimy, black thought, like intestines knotted into each other. Of course, he had the capacity to form a stage out of them, but he didn't want to.
Yakata would be far away from this, wherever he was.
He dove until there was nothing left to find, and that was where he came to rest.
The place was a vast expanse of whiteness with no beginning and no end. Of course, this was exactly what he wanted; Yakata's mind was in flux over ownership, and foggy with medicine besides. Inou felt he'd be able to coax the boy's consciousness out, somehow, if he pulled in, like a magnet collecting iron filaments.
He got on one knee, running his hand across the vaguely-defined floor, as if sweeping dust away.
Whatever's under here, let me see it, he commanded, without words.
The world got more brittle at the edges. Inou stood; his stance was careful, fearing the floor.
"Yakata-kun?" He called out, into the white void. "If you hear me, please, let me know! It's me, Inou!"
There was a sound like a low, far-off wind, and it carried a human moan with it.
"Are you all right?" he continued. "I have Nadeshiko with me, outside here! She's worried about you!"
"No..." the wind seemed to moan. "Why…"
Inou began to perceive great, gray hills receding into the misty distance, like pencil drawings, crackling as they came into being. Yakata's rules were being defined; his job was getting easier, and he took a deeper breath.
"It's okay, Yakata-kun! She's not angry at you. I'm not either. We're just worried. Are you okay?"
"Why, why…" The wind was far more apparent now, and it whipped in Inou's face fiercely, carrying with it static-hard bits of mental snow. "No…"
Inou raised his hands to cover his face, and chanced a step forward. "You're not okay?"
"I… Hide…!" The gusts slammed against him further. "I… Hide…!"
"Yakata-kun, please, don't hide, I won't hurt you!" Inou called. "You don't need to hide, it's okay."
"Stay away… stay away…!" The sound was beginning to sound less like wind and more like the high whine of a terrified child.
"I won't stay away, Yakata-kun. I'm staying here until I know you're okay. So Nadeshiko knows you're okay."
Inou sat down, crossing his legs, on the white ground.
"Come on out. Can you come where you can see me clearly?" He leaned forward a little, encouragingly. "Go on, it's all right."
He waited, breathing.
And after a short while, the particles of thought converged into a column of wind before him, and began to come together into something that looked like the monochrome form of a boy, crouched on the ground, holding his knees.
"There we go, is that better…?" Inou said, gently. He shifted his position, so that he was sitting on his knees now. "Are you all right?"
The projection shook his head. "Nuh… n-no…" The words sounded stretched, slow and pulled-on.
"What's the matter?" Inou said.
"I… I can't m-move my, my, my body."
"I know, Yakata-kun. I'm sorry. But we'll fix that together, all right?"
But the projection went on. "A-and, and, and, and I, and I saw, I saw everything…!"
And he raised his head, and the black-and-gray outline of his face looked terrified.
"I, I hurt s-so, so, so many people…!"
"Yakata-kun, that's not your fault! You didn't do those things. It's okay. We understand."
The projection was falling apart somewhat, leaking bits of itself back into the wind. "No… No…"
And a lush, full-throated whisper joined the wind.
"Monster…"
Inou knew the voice, and he steeled himself.
"You're not a monster, Yakata-kun. People will understand, honest. Just listen to me, all right?"
"No, no, no, no, n-nobody will, will understand, I, I'm better off n-not ever c-coming back…"
The projection was just a bare outline, now, and he was clutching his head, digging his face into his knees.
"…Nadeshiko will understand, Yakata-kun."
He stopped losing a little bit of himself.
"She's been through things like this, hasn't she? And nobody knows her like you do, Yakata-kun."
The projection nestled further into itself, but it seemed to grow more solid.
"I understand if you can't talk to me about it. If you don't think I'll trust you. But she will. You can talk to her all you want, you just have to come forward a little more. Can you do that?"
The projection lifted his head. "Wh-why, why isn't she here…"
"Because she's outside, Yakata-kun. Waiting for you to come back. This is a place she can't enter, not by herself. You understand?"
"If she really cared…" the wind hissed, "she'd be here…"
"She… n-no, it's because she… she hates me now… I-I hurt people, and she, she, she…"
"Nadeshiko doesn't hate you." Inou's words were a loud shield. "She…"
(And Inou had to make sure his words, which would be so much clumsier in the air, were not coming from his mouth.)
"She loves you, Yakata-kun. She loves you a whole lot. And if you never came back… she'd be very sad to lose you."
(Inou did not want to think of the desolation he would see in his sister if that happened.)
(But he did, no matter how much it hurt, because it would help.)
"She… sh-she, she loves me…" The projection was beginning to unfold, to sit on his knees, like Inou was.
"Yes, Yakata-kun. And she'd be here, with us, here, if she could. But I'm the only person who can make it to you. You understand? I'm here to help you."
The boy-thing on the ground was beginning to gain color. "You… you're sure she, she, she won't… won't hate me…"
"I have no idea why she would, Yakata-kun," Inou said, kindly.
"Oh, but you hurt her… She won't forget that…"
"Oh, shut up." Inou sighed, looking over his shoulder at the invisible nag, losing all of his coaxing smoothness. "Do you know my sister? No. So get lost."
"…dear, dear, how rude. And I was beginning to find your little display almost adorable."
And the white ground began to twist and wind up and around Yakata's projection, binding him into himself; it budded a torso, arms, a head, all of which cradled the static face of the projection in a parody of care.
Orochimaru had made it in.
"I'm not letting my hold of this boy go, however. He is mine."
Inou was not scared.
Quite the contrary.
He felt invigorated.
"He's not yours, you piece of crap," he said; he began to stand, and crossed his arms. "He doesn't belong to anybody but himself, you got that?"
(He had Ooda in his thoughts.)
"Come now, boy, I took this body fair and square," Orochimaru said. "Besides, you heard the poor thing. He doesn't want to go back."
"That's not what I heard," Inou replied. He shifted his weight to one foot, flexing the toes of the other into the air. "What I heard is that he's scared of people being scared of him for the stuff you did. Which isn't exactly fair, is it?"
Orochimaru didn't say anything, just clutching the projection tighter as it gained back some more of its color.
"You're fighting a losing battle, here, and you know it. Why else would you swoop down like a vulture now to try and take him back by force? Since this pitiful excuse for psychological warfare isn't working, and, well." He scoffed, smirking. "You tried using his body lately? I thought not."
"Watch your tongue, boy." Orochimaru's mouth was thin, pinched tight.
"Why should I?" Inou replied. "Y'know, I wonder if you're more afraid than Yakata-kun is. You don't want this to end up like how things went with my dad, do you?"
(Inou had sampled his share of memories on the way down, from the entrails-wall, unpleasant to the taste though they were.)
"No, the last thing you want is for Yakata-kun overpower you, to swallow you up and keep you captive in his mind. Stuck, forever looking out, but not able to do a thing…"
"I have no such fear," Orochimaru replied.
"Of course not," Inou said, tilting his head. "It's not like Yakata-kun has my father's willpower—or does he? After all, he's got someone waiting for him outside. Someone he really wants to see."
"I have this boy under my complete control," Orochimaru said. His fingers seemed to grow longer with his boast. "You can't possibly think that the desire to see that wretched girl again is strong enough to overpower me?"
Inou shrugged, raising his palms to exaggerate the action. "I dunno, but I guess we'll find out soon enough, hm?"
From between Orochimaru's white, thin arms, Inou could finally see the full color of Yakata's face, eyes wide.
"I'll tell Nadeshiko how much you can't wait to see her, when I get outside, okay?" Inou said, making his voice gentler with his eye contact. "It'll really make her happy."
"Pathetic whelp," Orochimaru said. "I should trap you in here as well. Make you eat those words of yours."
Inou shrugged once more. "Sure, give it your best shot."
Orochimaru just seethed at him, in response.
Cocking his head—a sort of "Well, okay!"—Inou turned around, but paused mid-step to look over his shoulder.
"Oh, and by the way, Orochimaru! Your clone's not only got more style than you, but he's much more handsome. Just thought I'd let you know."
The look on Orochimaru's face was a better reward than any payment the people outside could have given him.
And outside, Inou rubbed the concentration out of his face, and shook out his sore hand.
"Well, I planted a seed, and Yakata-kun showed definite reception to it…" he reported to Moegi, later. "But the rest we have to leave to time. I could dive in again, in a different area, and see if I could draw him out there… but I get the feeling I'd just get the same results, and we wouldn't make any progress."
"I have no doubt you were able to produce some sort of reaction," she replied. "Regardless, do you suppose you could do a progress check in a few hours?"
"Yeah, that'd be easy. Just let me know when you need me, ma'am," Inou said.
"Excellent," Moegi said, and nodded at him. "You are dismissed until I next call you; for convenience's sake I ask that you stay either within the hospital or the Yamanaka compound between then and now."
"That's fine," Inou said. "I'm… gonna go talk to my sister, actually."
Moegi nodded again, and left for other duties.
Nadeshiko hadn't moved from her place beside Yakata's bed, but her grip had loosened on the sheets, and her head was bowed lower.
"Hey," Inou said.
She looked up; he could see the red in the whites of her eyes.
"I heard it went well," she said.
"Yeah, I think it did," Inou replied. "I, uh. I told him you were waiting for him, out here."
Her eyes lowered. "Did you."
"Uh-huh. And y'know what? That gave him more strength than anything else I said to him."
(Though this was partially a lie.)
(But it wasn't like he could tell her that he'd said she loved Yakata to her face…)
"He really misses you, Nadeshiko. And I tried my best to make that his focus. Getting back so he can… be with you."
Nadeshiko wiped at one of her eyes with the tips of her fingers.
"I hope that it helps him," she said.
She laid a hand on top of Yakata's hand, beside the wrist restraint.
"…it'll help, sis. There's no way it can't."
Inou stayed with his sister for a while longer, bringing up his own chair, sharing the silence and the vigil with her.
No longer so ashamed to be associated with her.
And in the early evening, before Moegi could come back in and request a progress check, Naruto arrived with his own brand of help.
"What's it feel like, to you?" Naruto asked.
Yomena had her fingers spread out over Yakata's forehead, much like Inou's had been.
"…a definite parasite. Malevolent, of course. But its hold is weakening."
(Inou had gotten out of his chair to watch this from behind Nadeshiko, who stayed sitting. And his heart flipped with Yomena's words, like a compliment.)
"Is there anything you can do, y'know?"
Yomena took her hands off of him, closing her eyes in thought. "The dark influence is very deeply ingrained; I'm sure I can exorcise it, though it may take a while for the boy to recover from it…"
"He will have people to look after him. How long it takes for him to get back to health is no issue." Nadeshiko's voice was low and metallic.
"He… is in the hospital, y'know. So he'll be fine. Just as long as it won't… kill him or anything," Naruto said.
"He will be fine. Of course." Yomena, however, was not smiling.
Naruto called for Sakura, before she could begin the ceremony.
"You honestly think this is gonna work?" she said, quietly, just outside the room. "I mean… an exorcism, seriously?"
"She put the Riverman to rest, Sakura. An' she's done this sorta thing before, y'know. It can't hurt if we at least try…"
Sakura's brows were knit with skepticism and worry, and she stayed very near to Yomena's side of the bed as the girl placed prayer slips on Yakata's chest and forehead.
Nadeshiko had her hands pressed close to her chest. Inou kept a hand on her shoulder.
And Yomena began to chant.
There was not as much light, this time. The prayer slips were what glowed, the ink shining as if made of neon; the paper burned and crumbled without fire. Yakata's body took struggling, rapid breaths during the process, his chest heaving up and down.
But the prayer slips were soon exhausted, disappearing into pinpoints of light. Yomena ceased her chanting, lowering her prayer beads, placing her hand on his forehead.
And after far too long a time, she reported, "I don't… feel anything."
"You… mean to say that the evil stuff's gone, right…?" Naruto said, hopefully.
Yomena did not answer, moving her hand down Yakata's face; he was still breathing, though shallowly. "I… am trying to-" She was interrupted by a gasp from her own mouth, and a violent series of coughs from Yakata's. "Unbind him, quickly!" she called.
The boy's body was beginning to convulse from the coughing.
Sakura made quick work of the wrist restraints, and Yakata sprang up into a sitting position, now almost retching, his head heaving forward with each violent cough.
"What's going on?!" She was loosening his right ankle restraint.
"He's expelling the force himself, 'course!" Yomena said. "Give him space!"
And Yakata, with a great, whoop-like cough, bent over the emptier side of the bed, and began to vomit.
But what came out of his mouth was not bile or puke, but a slimy white mass, which shriveled and wrinkled like drying glue as soon as it hit the floor, shrinking into itself.
"Oh—ew," Naruto said, putting quite eloquently what everyone else was thinking.
Yomena produced another prayer slip from her jacket and whipped it towards the mass with expert aim; there was a noise like a cockroach on fire, high and whining and foul. The white slime blackened, curling smaller and smaller until nothing was left beneath the slip but soot.
Yakata was beginning to regain his breath, his gasps slowing. His hands were clutching each other near his heart, his eyes tightly closed.
"Yakata…?" Nadeshiko's hand was wandering through the air near him, but not on him.
His head turned towards her, slowly, as he opened his eyes.
They were black, as they should have been.
"N-Nadeshiko, is, is that, is that really you…?"
"Yes," she said, her voice weak, "it's me. I'm here."
And large tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes, great and shiny and deserved.
"I'm, I'm, I'm so sorry…!"
They lunged forward to cling to each other at the same time, him needing her as much as she needed him.
She ran her hand down his back, pressing his head into her shoulder with the other. "You have nothing to apologize for. You did nothing wrong. It's okay."
"I was, I was… I was so scared, though, I, I couldn't, I couldn't do anything, and I, I hurt so many people…!"
"It's okay. It's okay. It's not your fault." She hushed and whispered in his ear, her own tears running thick through her lashes. "It's okay now."
"P-please don't leave, I, I don't, I don't want to hurt you, but… but don't leave, please…"
"I won't leave. I'll stay right here. You won't hurt me."
Yakata sniffed. "I'm, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"
"Shh, it's all right. It's okay now…"
"I'll stay with them," Sakura whispered, barely audible, so as not to interrupt them; she gestured toward the door with a waving hand. "You guys wait outside while I check on Yakata-kun."
"Gotcha," Naruto said, and left. Yomena and Inou followed, though Inou more reluctantly.
(He convinced himself, after a while, that Nadeshiko was crying at least somewhat-happy tears.)
(But he'd never seen her cry before, and it made him feel uncomfortable, like something was severely wrong that he had to correct.)
Naruto, meanwhile, went to sweep Yomena into a great hug that went all the way around her back, and he twirled her around.
Yomena was surprised, to say the least. She stumbled away from the hug looking both dizzy and appalled. "H-Hokage-sama…?"
"Yomena, you are literally the greatest person ever, y'know! You have no idea how important that was. Oh my gosh. You, like, seriously saved the day here!"
She blinked a few times, propping her hand up against her face to compensate. "This boy was that important?"
"The guy—thing—whatever—that was possessing him was the one that caused all that damage, y'know!" Naruto exploded. "We had no idea how to get him out for good, and… and you did it! You saved him!"
"I, um… well, I'm… glad to be of service, 'course…" Yomena said, trying to cover her mouth for a semblance of modesty.
"You were more than just a service, Yomena, you saved a life here! A real important life too! And, and… Oh, c'mere, you! You're getting another hug."
Before she could protest, he was squeezing Yomena again. And she tolerated it, stumbling back from it again, but a strange smile cracked on her face in the aftermath.
"I just did what I was trained to do, 'course…" she said, trying to look at the floor.
"Yeah, you keep sayin' that," Naruto said, grinning.
"Um, excuse me? I'm the one that, uh… loosened Orochimaru up in the first place?" Inou, who'd been watching to some degree of amusement, in the hallway, had his fists on his hips.
"Oh, yeah? You want a hug too, y'know?"
"No!" Inou crossed his arms over his chest, now, backing away some.
Naruto laughed mightily in reply, and even Yomena was giggling.
(And for the first time in his knowing her, he felt… warmth within her.)
(Not just pride in her own work, but true enjoyment of his recognition and company.)
(With everything taken into consideration—the Taki clan, and the Riverman, and Yakata, and now Yomena—Naruto was eager to declare this one of his Greatest Days.)
(He had many of them, but this one, he would remember with copper-colored fondness.)