Naruto Shippuden -H-: Chapter 009: A Liability
Aoba and Raido had arrived at the Interrogation Department around one in the morning, with Sheppard in tow.
"So this is the guy you were able to confiscate, good work, we will be able to have this finished in no time." said Ibiki as Aoba and Raido sat Sheppard in a jail cell to await his interrogation.
"You imbeciles really believe you have me cornered, let me tell you, there will be nothing but misery if you try to delve too deeply into my psyche." said Sheppard as he lied down on the floor.
"We will see about that, everyone is quick to talk once Ibiki has his way." said Aoba.
"I am going to help in the construction of the fallen gates, I am sure you and Ibiki will handle this." said Raido as he left the Interrogation Department.
"This man is a liability in our quest to find out who or what was behind this attack on our village." said Aoba to Ibiki.
"I know, like I said, we will have this done before sunrise." said Ibiki as he opened the cell that Sheppard was in and guided him to a table surrounded by a glass wall.
"I will do the talking, Aoba will use his Mind Reading Jutsu to figure out whatever you are not willing to tell us." said Ibiki as he and Aoba were ready to start.
"Just be careful, you may learn more than you are willing to know." said Sheppard with a grin as Aoba placed his hand onto the bound man's forehead.
"Okay, concentrate, let's find out how this whole ordeal began." said Aoba as he began to enter Sheppard's mind.
Sasuke and Jugo were still on their way to the Land of Sound.
"We should be their in about half an hour, from their, it will take another twenty minutes to reach the hideout." said Jugo.
"I know, then once we arrive, I will ask him not only about what transpired yesterday, but also about something else that has been bothering me." said Sasuke as he could not quell a feeling of unease.
Aoba was continuing his efforts to purge into Sheppard's mind, he was able to come across a memory of Sheppard, standing alone in what looked like a basement, with dimly lit lights and tons of doors that resembled a mental institution.
"What kind of place is this?" asked Aoba to himself as he continued to observe Sheppard's memories.
"Sheppard, will you come with me, it is time to discuss your involvement with the plan." said a man in a doctor's suit and a surgical mask.
"Yes, I am ready and willing, though I must admit, I am a little nervous about meeting him in person." said Sheppard as he followed the man in the doctor's suit up a flight of stairs. Screams from behind the doors of the many rooms that filled the place could be heard as well.
"Good lord, what kind of place is this, what had transpired here?" asked Aoba.
"We have arrived at the hallway that leads to his quarters, are you sure you are ready, this will be painful." said the doctor as he had Sheppard walk down the dark hallway alone.
"Being operated on, in order to implant five thousand paper bombs into myself sounds a little extreme, but then again, this is what I agreed too." said Sheppard as he opened the large brass door that lead to what looked like a large room with many books filling the shelves, and only two candles lighting up the area.
"So, are you ready?" asked a man with long, blue spiky hair as he had Sheppard sit down into a chair with many surgical tools beside it.
"Of course, if all else fails, being a suicide bomb will definable make my loss worth it to the city that saved me as a war orphan." said Sheppard with a fanatical laugh.
"Yes, Lazarus is the city where does who are lost can have a home, for those with hearts filled with despair to be put at ease, and for those with dreams to have them come to fruition." said the light-green skinned man as he prepared to perform the surgery on Sheppard.
"So, this guy had five thousand paper bombs implanted into himself in the event of a fail-safe. these guys seem to be extremists at the very least." said Aoba as he drifted further into Sheppard's thoughts.
"It has been eight hours since the surgery, how do you fill Sheppard?" asked the blue haired man as he and Sheppard were sitting in the large room with many books and the dim-litted candles.
"I feel good, now you said that this operation to send an invitation to the golden hero will begin in two months?" asked Sheppard to the man.
"Yes, until then return to Camp Abraham, and wait to receive orders from Antoine Keido, is that clear?" asked the man to Sheppard.
"Yes Lord Dreatoen, I understand." said Sheppard as he left the area and seemed to feel at unease.
Aoba had seen enough and decided to release the jutsu, deciding to tell Ibiki on what he had discovered.
"It seems that the people that this man worked for had transplanted five thousand explosive paper bombs into him, rather it be in the case of the failure of this mission, or for something else." said Aoba.
"I see, so that is how these people treat you, as a living bomb, and yet you go along with it anyway, seems you are just a mindless follower with no will of his own." said Ibiki with a menacing look.
"I suppose the same could be said to you Konoha bastards in the way you falsely pursue the commands of your lack-luster Hokage." laughed Sheppard with glee.
"Everyone is entitled to believe how they want, but that has nothing to do with this, I am going to deactivate those bombs that were implanted inside of you." said Aoba as he placed his hand onto Sheppard's chest.
"They are already inactive, but feel free to do it anyway, I could care less, anything and everything that meant something to me has already been thrown down the shitter." said Sheppard in a mocking tone.
"Then you have nothing to loose by telling me who the mastermind behind this whole plan to invade our village was, am I right?" asked Ibiki.
"Sure, I would be glad to inform you, in fact, it would be an honor to tell you about the boss, he sure is a great man." said Sheppard with a laugh,
"Yeah, what kind of good man has someone implant bombs into one of his subordinates?" asked Aoba.
"I agreed to it goddammit, you saw it when you read my mind, did you not?" asked Sheppard in a furious tone.
"Yes, and now I have deactivated those bombs, so you are no longer a threat to any of us." said Aoba with a smile.
"Well, I guess all that is left now is to tell you about our boss, where do I start, well, I know of his name at least, that is about it." said Sheppard.
"And his name is?" asked Ibiki who was starting to get irritated.
"His name is Hir... ehghhh, ahhhhh!" screamed Sheppard as he began to let out a blood hurdling scream that filled the room.
"What is going on, Aoba, help me subdue him!" yelled Ibiki as he and Aoba attempted to restrain the man.
"No, please don't, don't let him kill me, don't let him kill me, don't let..." is all Sheppard could say as his head swelled up and exploded, leaving brain matter and blood all over the room.
"What in the hell happened, what is this?" asked Aoba with a frightened tone.
"The people Sheppard worked for must have done something else to him, perhaps what we just witnessed was a measure that their boss took to ensure that no information leaks got out." said Ibiki who was somewhat distraught with the situation.
"It seemed to me that Sheppard did not agree to this, I guess when it boils down to it, we are dealing with true scumbags." said Aoba who had some empathy for what had happened to Sheppard.
"I will tell Kakashi about this in the morning, for now, I will help you clean up this mess." said Aoba.
"I am glad it was just the two of us here, anyone else would have lost it after seeing this." said Ibiki.
One of Sheppard's eyes, which had been shot against the wall seemed to shed a tear as Aoba caught a glimpse of it, but decided to shake it off.
Lunesto, Antoine, and Jesei were on their way back to their destination. They had passed around the western border of the Land of Stone, and were now in the country of Leviticus, where their home was located.
"Almost their, I bet by now that Dreatoen triggered the trap that was secretly put into Sheppard's head, hehehehe." laughed Jesei.
"Was that not a little extreme though, how could he do that to one of our own." said Antoine with disgust.
"Hey, he was just a war orphan of Amegakure, no loss, everyone from that village is a fucking piece of shit anyway." said Lunesto who had seemed to gain great satisfaction knowing that a person from that village had died.
"I say we kill the five kages next, those ungrateful bastards will deserve to be tortured in the worst possible way for lying to their villages, after all of this time." said Jesei with a sadistic look.
"We will leave it to the Apathetic Judge to decide what we do with them, besides, we are only ten miles from Lazarus now, and it is four in the morning, don't want to keep the other Knights of Dawn waiting." said Lunesto as the three men quickly ran towards the location of their destination.
Naruto had fallen asleep beside Hinata in their bed, with the window opened, and the nice warm summer time air flowing in. A few drops of sweat seemed to roll down Naruto's forehead as a strange vision appeared in his dreams.
It was like something out of a nightmare, as Naruto in his dream questioned the occurrence.
"What is going on here?" thought Naruto to himself as he could not wake up.
A large, skinless hand appeared from the shadows that surrounded Naruto in what appeared to be an underground mental institution, the veins pulsating on the large hand that was twice as large as Naruto.
"Ewww, what the hell, is this some kind of gross dream?" asked Naruto to himself as he was disturbed by the sight.
"Hinata will DIE first, Hinata will DIE first, she will die DIE DIE DIE!" yelled a demonic voice, which appeared to have a subtle tone of sadness to it, over and over again as the skinless hand grabbed Naruto and began to squeeze him harshly.
"No, it is just a dream, that is all!" yelled Naruto as he woke up beside Hinata, who had also awakened after witnessing her husband screaming himself out of rest.
"Naruto, are you okay, you were screaming, and saying that this is only a dream?' asked Hinata with a sincere look on her face.
"No, it was nothing, trust me, I guess the recent excitement just got to me, let's just go back to bed." said Naruto as he was still very tired from the day prior.
"Okay dear, but just let me know if you need anything, I will always be here for you." said Hinata as a tear rolled down her face, as she could not stand to see Naruto troubled, even if only in the slightest way.
"I will never let nothing happen to you, my angle." thought Naruto to himself as he started to heavily cry silently to himself with the thought of Hinata in his mind.
"Naruto, please don't cry, I promise that everything will be alright." said Hinata as she gave Naruto a hug and comforted him the rest of the night.
"Thank you." said Naruto as he had seemed to have lost a great deal of energy from the nightmare.
Sasuke and Jugo had entered a cavern deep in the Land of Sound, near an old farm that had long since been abandoned.
"He should be here, I detected his presence with my Sharingan and Rinnegan, I know it." said Sasuke as he opened a door leading to an area with many glass bottles and research equipment.
"Well call me a fish out of water, look who it is." said a voice as a man with blue-white hair emerged from one of the other doors in the room.
"Suigetsu, is he here, or did he leave, their is something I need to ask him." said Sasuke sternly.
"Umm, yeah, I thinks so, but more to the point, how have you been, it has seemed like forever since I last saw you." said Suigetsu with glee.
"Forget that, I need to speak with him now." said Sasuke with haste.
"Hehehehe, no need to be so rude Sasuke, I am here, just don't tell me you want to meet with the dead Kages again, kukukuku." laughed a sinister voice as a pale man with purple marking emerged from behind Sasuke and Jugo.
"Oh Lord Orochimaru, their you are." said Suigetsu with shock.
"No smartass, but their is something else I would like to ask, who is the leader of the men that attacked our village and seem to want a meeting with Naruto Uzumaki?" asked Sasuke as he looked at Orochimaru with his Sharingan and Rinnegan active.
-To be continued next time with Chapter 010...-