Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kiba were all sitting down in the commons room and Kabuto walked in. "Come on guys, it's dinner time." he said. Naruto looked at the others and they made their ways to their rooms to get their cloaks. As they walked to the dining area, Kiba noticed that there were only ten tables. "Each pod has it's own table, ours is the one in the back with the red top." Kabuto said, pointing to the table. They got into line and got their food. "Tomorrow will be your first day of classes. Each floor has it's own class areas and there are two pods per class room, because ours is missing a couple members, the class will only have eight people in it. Your teacher will be Kakashi. He is a pretty good instructor of the arts and the other subjects you'll be learning." Kabuto said. Naruto and the others got into their food and were eating when a voice came over the intercom. "Please take this time to congratulate pod 6-8 for their successful completion of their mission today." the voice said. "Well, at least we know they made it." Kabuto said. "What do you mean by that?" Shikamaru asked. "It was their first mission. It was an adult book store that refused to carry materials that catered to the community. Their mission was to ruin all the material within the store by releasing dye bombs and setting them off." Kabuto said. Naruto laughed and Kiba rolled his eyes. "Sounds like fun." Naruto said. "Not really, it was directly across the street from a police station." a voice from behind Kabuto said. "Ah, Master Kankuro, this is Kiba and Shikamaru, the two new admissions to 5-4." Kabuto said. "Pleased to meet you Kiba, Shikamaru." Kankuro said before turning to Kabuto. "Here are the lesson assignments for your pod." Kankuro said before turning and walking out of the dining area. "It seems you guys will be in the same classes through out your education here. Monday and Friday will be general education and Wednesday will be the arts, understood?" Kabuto said as he handed the pieces of paper to them. "Understood." the three responded at once.
Kabuto smiled, his last pod was broken up and ended up with half of them being processed and the other half being assigned as civilian watchers. He had never had a pod where anyone was placed within the organization, that seemed to be Kankuros place. He looked over the table at Naruto and smiled, he seemed to have what it took to be a pod master. "Why are you looking at me like that Kabuto?" Naruto said, dropping the master part on accident. "Because, it's like I am looking into the future of the organization when I see the pod members I have now. I will explain what that means later, for now enjoy dinner." Kabuto said before picking up his fork and taking a bite of the salad he had.
"So, Kabuto, how long before we get missions?" Naruto asked. "Depending on how your studies go, it'll be between six months and a year." Kabuto said. "Wow, so we are pretty much going to have it easy for a while." Kiba said. "Not really, as students, you'll have community duty two days a week, then once you are trained and assigned your final duties, you'll have those to worry about." he said as he finished eating. "What kind of community duties?" Kiba asked. "It will range from cleaning to answering phones because you guys are too young to work in the processing facility." Kabuto said. Naruto got a disgusted look on his face, he wasn't sure if he could see something like that happening and maintain himself. "What if someone is assigned processing duties and they refuse." Naruto asked. "If someone refuses their duties because they can't handle them, like processing, then they are just assigned another duty. Besides, rarely do they process any members, you'll find out why on your first day of training. And if they do, it's all enclosed so you don't see anything." Kabuto said, not telling them about the other two pod members that he had that met this fait.
After the meal, they all met back in the commons room and Naruto flicked on the TV. "Ah, so we start classes tomorrow?" Naruto asked. "No, they only permit a pod to start classes when it is full so everyone has equal training and goes out on missions on the same time. Because you guys will be completing missions together, when the last person finishes training is when you all will be out on missions." Kabuto said. Naruto nodded his head and Kiba shrugged his shoulders. Shikamaru joined them after using the facilities and putting his things away. "So, what is this about processing?" Shikamaru asked. Kiba got a disgusted look on his face as did Naruto, luckily, Kabuto picked up on their uneasiness. "I'll explain that in the room later." Kabuto simply said, dropping the subject. Just as they were getting relaxed, Kabuto was called to the control desk. "I'll be back soon guys." he said as he walked out the door and pulled up his hood. Naruto walked over to the microwave with a bag of popcorn and put it in. "Where did you get that?" Shikamaru asked. "The vending machine by the cafeteria." Naruto said. "I see, so you can't live without popcorn anywhere." Kiba joked (OK, I just had to write this part in. It's an obsession of mine, Naruto has his ramen, I have my popcorn.) "No, I can't." Naruto said flatly as the microwave beeped, saying it was done. "Naruto, I see you are still eating that shit, it'll give you gas." a voice said from behind Naruto. "Controller Sai, what are you doing here, I thought your were in pod 5-2?" Naruto asked. "Kabuto wanted me to come and get you, you and Inuzuka are being requested by the Master Controller." Sai said. Shikamaru gave them a scared look which Sai picked up on. "It isn't for anything like that, just their preexisting relationship before here." Sai said as Naruto and Kiba passed behind him in the hallway with their cloaks on.
"What's behind the controller desk?" Kiba asked. "Offices and interview rooms. When we get there, don't look into room number 8." Naruto said as a warning. "What's room number 8?" Kiba asked. "You already were there." Naruto said, Kiba got a worried look on his face. As they entered the offices, Naruto looked straight forward, but as they passed room number 8, Kiba stopped and looked in the open door. He completely froze in fear. There was a white chair with an IV pole on the back of it. He could see a door in the wall that was large enough to slide a body through, he guessed that was how they disposed of the bodies of the people who were terminated. He looked at the chair and noticed the arm rests with the extendable paddles on the end of them. The straps to hold someone down when all this was happening. He flashed back to remembering himself in the chair, how cold it was. He could remember one thing, it was padded so you were comfortable at least. Naruto looked behind him and saw Kiba standing in front of an open door. He walked back to get him and looked in. Kiba had stopped in front of room number 8. "Kiba, come on. Let's hope this is the last time either of us see the inside of this room." Naruto said as he reached in and closed the door. "Yes, indeed let's hope you two don't see the inside of room number 8 again. I will find out who left the door open and make sure it doesn't happen again." Kabuto said as he walked up to Naruto and Kiba. "Come, Master Controller Saritobi is waiting for you." he said as he motioned his hand to follow.
As Kiba and Naruto walked into the room, they were met by someone sitting behind a desk. "Ah, Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba, nice to see you two. Kiba, I am sorry for the mistake that was made." the person behind the desk said. When he turned his chair around, they saw a man in his late twenties with a goatee and black hair. "Pod Master Kabuto, please take a seat outside, they will be out shortly." the person said. "Understood." was all Kabuto said before walking out and shutting the door. "Master Controller Saritobi, why did you wish to see me?" Naruto asked. "Naruto, please, just call me Asuma." Asuma said from behind his desk. "I know that the only thing that saved Kiba yesterday was the fact you listed him as a previous relationship that was beyond friendship or being a family member. I was wanting to know how long have you two been involved in this relationship." Asuma said as he clicked his pen. "Not very long, only a few weeks." Naruto said. "Kiba, how long have you been out of the closet?" Asuma asked. "I never really came out. I am sure you know my family and I know that it would have resulted badly so I never told my parents about anything." Kiba said. Asuma nodded his head. "Well, we will mark today as the day you came out. Other then that, I noticed that Kabuto approved full contact and I am going to follow his opinion, but one thing will be expressed now. We demand protection and will provide it, please use it. Failure to follow this rule will be punished by either expulsion or termination." Asuma said in a cold tone. "What?!" Naruto about screamed. "We'd be processed for not using a damn condom?" he said in almost as equal of a loud tone. Asuma started laughing. "I see, this is the spirit that Kabuto was talking about. I was joking about the termination part, you'd be restricted to the building only if you were caught doing that. Take this box and you are dismissed." Asuma said as he slid a small box across the desk. Naruto and Kiba glared at the box because they knew its contents.
"Student Uzumaki, please keep your voice down, I heard you all the way out here." Kabuto said when Naruto and Kiba walked out of the room. "I am sorry, he said something that was kinda weird." Naruto said. "Let me guess, the whole 'you'll be terminated for not using a condom'?" Kabuto said, Naruto nodded his head. "Master Controller Asuma has a sense of humor that often times scares the new people here, don't be bothered." Kabuto said as they walked down the hallway. The door to room number 8 was closed and they were glad to not see the inside of that room again, nor did they want to. As they reached the control desk, Sai was behind his computer, working on something and the floor secretary was also working on some paperwork. Naruto walked over to the desk and smiled. "Controller Sai, remember your comment on the popcorn?" Naruto said in a quiet tone. Sai only reached under his desk and got out a can of air deodorizer. "Take your best shot." Sai said. "Where did you get that from?" Kabuto asked as he walked up and saw the label. "Processing, it seems it can even take out that odor." Sai said, making Naruto look at him with an insulted look. "So, you mean that I smell like melting flesh and bones?" Naruto said in a slightly insulted tone. "No, I am saying that what you did last night smelt like rotting ass stuffed inside a rotting ass next to a rotting ass." Sai said. Kabuto started chuckling and Naruto stuck his tongue out. "I think I may go to processing to get some of that. It was even worse in the pod last night." Kabuto said. "Could I go with you?" Naruto asked. "Why not, consider it a tour of the entire complex. If you want to come too Kiba, I'll see if Shikamaru wants to come too." Kabuto said.
They walked back into the pod and noticed Shikamaru had fallen asleep on the couch. "Naaaraaaa." Naruto sung as he poked Shikamaru in the stomach. "Bwrah. What do you want, I was sleeping so nicely." Shikamaru moaned as he sat up. "We're going down to processing to get some room deodorizer, want to come. Kabuto already approved it as a facility tour." Naruto said. "You're crazy, right? Why the hell would I want to go where they melt down their victims." Shikamaru said with disgust clearly evident in his voice. "Because it's either that or deal with the FAW I left in here." Naruto said. Shikamaru jumped up and ran to get his cloak. "What the hell is a FAW?" Kabuto asked until it hit him. "Damnit Naruto." he called out, only to hear Naruto giggle a little. "It means 'Fart at will', it was a warning he made his freshman year and it stuck." Kiba said, pulling his robe to cover his face. "OK, this is the only time that you can go out without your robes. Take them off at the door, the processing plant is across the street." Kabuto said. They got into the elevator and went to the lobby. After removing their robes and putting them in a closet, they walked out the front door. Naruto looked at the factory building in front of him. There were semi trucks with open topped trailers in the parking area and three large garage doors. "How does the processed ones get here?" Naruto asked. "There is a grinder unit in the basement, it is sent directly over here in a pipe. If someone is to be processed, they are added with the 'black' materials over here." Kabuto said as they walked across the street. "So, why no robes?" Naruto asked. "Because, this place employs both members and non members. If we were to wear the robes over here, it could result in everyone being arrested." Kabuto said flatly as they entered the tipping area. There were three pits on the end of the tipping floor. Although the floor was completely clean, it was obvious that a truck had recently unloaded by the smell. "Everything is unloaded into the pits at the end of the tipping floor, from there, it is ground up and sent to the cookers. I won't be able to take you guys into the cooker room but the office has a view of it." Kabuto said as he opened a door and stepped in.
The room they entered had computer terminals and a large glass window overlooking the cooker room. Naruto looked out the window and saw the large cookers. He also noticed that everything was contained in pipes from the floor, not giving a view of anything that was being done. "Everything is contained, not only to prevent odor release but to also ensure that the product is clean." Kabuto said, "Well, this is the processing plant. Let's go back to the tower." he finished. As they walked out, Kiba got a grim look on his face. He wanted to ask the question that was bugging him so bad, but he held it until they were back in their pod.
"So, did my family pass through there?" Kiba bluntly asked as soon as Kabuto closed the door to their pod. "To be honest, I don't know." Kabuto said, addressing Kiba's question. "If they did, would you tell me?" Kiba asked. This time, there was no answer. "I don't know what happens to the people who are terminated as a result of an operation, only the members. I had a close friend who screwed up on a major mission. It was to plant evidence on a senators computer. He was arrested and didn't follow protocol. I wasn't in the same pod as him, but we both went to the same school. Because he didn't follow protocol, he was tried but released on bail. They debated on processing but decided to go for it. I was working that evening in the processing plant when someone walked up to me and said he just passed through the facility." Kabuto said before turning towards Kiba. "It is an evil that I really want the organization to stop using for this reason, but it serves a purpose to make the money to keep the operation going." he finished. Kiba looked at Kabuto with a new light after that, he realized that no one was unaffected by the processing and this made him realize one thing, everyone faced death, it was just a matter of how it came.
The night went on and Naruto went to his room. Kiba and the others stayed out in the common room and talked until almost midnight. "God, I am tired as hell, it's been a hell of a day." Kiba said as he stood up and walked into his and Narutos bed room. He noticed that Naruto was already asleep and stripped himself down to his boxers. As he got into his bed, Naruto rolled over. Through the dim light coming in through the window, he noticed that Kiba had tears running down his face. Naruto threw his legs over the side of the bed and walked over to Kiba. "Kiba, can I join you, you need some comforting." Naruto said, Kiba only scooted over in the bed. The beds were large enough for two people to fit in them, but were assigned to only one person.
Naruto waited for Kibas reply, but instead, Kiba pulled him into the bed next to him. "Naruto, thank you for being there for me, and saving me." Kiba mumbled into Narutos shoulder. "No problem, I know it hurts to lose a family member to them, I lost both my parents to them, that's why I lived with my uncle." Naruto said. "Really, you'll have to tell me about that tomorrow. Kiba slowly drifted off to sleep next to Naruto, who shortly followed him.