Chapter Nineteen: The Asylum
~Ninja's POV~
"Maya, is Uncle Kisa going to watch us all day?" Keira asked for the fifth time.
Kisame grinned liking the fact that the little girl seemed to be having a little happy dance in her seat. Amaya sighed as she had given the same answer again and again.
"Yes Keira. Kisame and Kakuzu will be watching you all day... That sounds creepy." Kisame and Kakuzu were the only two who heard the mumble. Kisame would have retorted but Memphis had yet to let go of his arm since he'd seen Kisame get in the car.
"I can't wait to introduce you to all my friends!" Memphis said happily. "I've told Kevin and Marcus about you but they said that you don't exist and that you're just an imaginary friend. But I told them that you're real and you're really tall!" Kisame was having too much fun to correct his Squishy to remind him that he would be watching him from the shadows. (Amaya was right, that did sound creepy.)
"Memphis Kisame won't be able to be seen. Adults can't come to school with you." Amaya explained patiently.
"But why not?" Keira asked. Kakuzu didn't know if he should feel proud that Keira wanted him around all the time or if he should be annoyed at her impending tantrum. Apparently Amaya could sense it coming to since she immediately changed her tone.
"Do you want me to turn them back into cats for you? Then they'd be able to follow you around all day."
"Will you Kisame?" Memphis asked as Keira turned around and did a very convincing puppy dog eyes to Kakuzu.
"Please?"
"Will we be able to regain our human shape if we want?" Kakuzu asked Amaya.
"You could if you really need to. But I have to have your word that you won't do anything to hurt any of the children or the teachers." Amaya said as she pulled into the parking lot of the biggest castle Kakuzu had ever seen. (Well in this dimension.) The castle reminded Kisame a little of Blood Prison. Which was a very disturbing thought.
"But why can't they-" Keira tried.
"Keira Azura Black. You know the rules about having adults in the classroom. Only special aides can come in. Parents and Guardians can only enter when it's Parent Teacher Conference."
"What's that?" Kisame asked not being able to help his curiosity as Keira backed down.
"It's something that the school does. The teachers meet with the students' parents or guardians to let them know how their brat is doing in their classes." Amaya twisted around in the driver's seat. "But do you two agree to stay in cat form until we get home?"
"If it means being able to keep an eye on the brats then so be it." Kakuzu grumbled.
"If it'll make Memphis happy." Kisame said.
"Good, because I was going to do it anyway." Amaya grinned.
"What?" Too late Amaya was already incanting in what she'd told them was Latin. Apparently it was a dead language but Naruto, Deidera, Hidan, and Yahiko seemed to pick up on it quickly. Surprisingly.
Kisame felt the familiar burn as his skin seemed to peel off and his bones shrunk. He yowled as everything became bigger. Once the burning stopped Memphis was able to pick him up as if he only weighed a few pounds. Which, at this point, he did.
Kakuzu had gone through the same thing but instead of being picked up, he had stayed still in order to work his muscles and make sure he didn't make a fool of himself. No doubt Kisame would tell Hidan about it. The bastard.
"Come on kids. It's time for school." Amaya called opening her door. Kakuzu looked around as he heard Keira getting out of the car. His door opened suddenly letting in cold air that ruffled his tan fur.
"Hey Beauty!" Keira giggled making Kakuzu growl low in his throat at the name.
"Remember kids, make sure you keep Beauty and Oreo with you at all times." Amaya, looking taller and much smugger, said.
"We will." Keira said as she put Kakuzu on the hard ground that was called concrete here. He looked up at the tall dark castle and couldn't help but gulp. The castle looked much more intimidating from his current height of six inches.
"Make sure they stay away from Jasper!" Amaya called as Kisame ran to keep up with Memphis as he trotted to the grassy lawn.
"Okay!" Memphis called back. Kisame looked up at Memphis and meowed. Memphis smiled down at him.
"Don't worry Oreo. Just don't touch the green goo on the walls and you'll be okay." Kisame vaguely wondered if he should join Naruto in the 'Fear Ghosts and Go Home' club.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Amaya asked for the third time as she fingered her knives strapped to her black Guardian outfit. Nagato had to admit he was a bit amused at the fact that Amaya didn't seem to have any faith in them. They were ninja for crying out loud.
"We are grown men Amaya." Kakashi pointed out dryly not liking the fact that Amaya seemed to be coddling them. Amaya seemed to guess their thoughts as she bit her lip.
"I'm just making sure you guys don't want to back out while you have a chance. You are going to be in cat form for a while."
"We've gotten used to being cats." Kakashi grumbled. He was more of a dog person than a cat person. If he didn't know any better he could've said that this was Tora's ultimate revenge for the time he used his ninken pack to hunt her down. (She had been missing some fur but thankfully he'd been able to put it off on Obito who had singed her fur with a badly timed prank.)
"It can't be any worse than Blood Prison." Itachi cut in. Kakashi had to hand it them, they did seem like two peas in a pod. He was willing to bet that Itachi was going to use some 'tactics' to try and get her to agree and to loosen up. (Thinking like that would probably make the females and Itachi inclined to cut back his reading though, so he said nothing.) Nagato could guess what Kakashi was thinking purely based on his little chuckle that sounded a bit too perverted. He only risked a glare since he did like having the 'dog' ninja around.
"I've never been to BP but I can tell you that it isn't as… loose. The Asylum is basically a haunted hospital that's coated in every protection shield we have. I'm surprised that there were five escapees but then again no place is ever really safe." Amaya said.
"What can we expect from the Asylum then?" Kakashi asked, "If we are going with you, and we will, then it'll be better if we're all properly informed rather than going in half-cocked."
"It would also be better if you tell us why the place has you so spooked." Hidan grumbled from the couch. Amaya groaned and ran an agitated hand through her hair before finally deciding to indulge them. Her grey eyes met Nagato's with a weariness only experienced fighters had.
"The Asylum is nothing like any other prison. Guardians are naturally forbidden to enter beyond the first and second level of the hospital. There are five floors devoted to the hospital but the last three are all guarded so that only experienced Healers can go inside."
"What does that have to do with the mission, un?" Deidera asked lazily as Melody answered him, not even looking up from her sketch book.
"Because the Room for the Records and Surveillance is on the sixth floor."
"I thought you said there were only five floors?" Konan interjected.
"There is but the sixth floor is only accessible to those who are really in need of it. And according to Andromeda my team and I will need to be going up there to get the documents on the escaped prisoners to check their files and so we can see what happened the night every Guardian in the vicinity was distracted." Amaya said. "The hospital is made of witch glass, steel and has running holy water that makes the hospital the ultimate safe house."
"Of course there are also the occasional werewolves, vampires, witches, and every other living thing in there. We all have a weakness and the Asylum is always handy with those things in case something happens."
"There's iron in the hospital?" Itachi asked flatly staring at Amaya who gave her sister, who still didn't look up from her book, an exasperated glare.
"Not so much that you need to worry. But it's more about what you will feel if you are going to come with me. The Healers wear charmed bracelets that allow them to move about freely without feeling the fear, anxiety, depression, hatred, and severe hopelessness you'll feel on the other levels."
"Well that sounds… depressing." Naruto commented trying not to think of his time in BP and how it seemed so much better than what Amaya was describing.
"The 'visiting' Guardians get temporary bracelets for however long they're there. But they don't give them out to familiars." Melody commented. She finally looked up with a frown on her pretty face. Deidera wondered if she ever stopped her doodling. If not then she'd probably be a good match for his artless bastard of a partner. "Do they even allow familiars?"
"Probably not." Amaya sighed, "But if I know these three overprotective morons then they'll be letting us all in before lunch."
"Then I suppose we're all agreed on going." Kakashi answered cheerily not waiting to give Amaya time to argue. "We really should be going now. We wouldn't want your teammates to think that you're taking up my habits on being late to everything, now would we?"
"I knew I should've waited to give you the third book." Nagato and Itachi didn't bother to hide their amusement as Amaya continued to mutter about 'lazy, white-haired, perverted men who always seemed to be stronger than most.'
In truth, Nagato was wondering if that could explain Jiraiya-sensei. If it did, then it was a very apt description.
Itachi made sure to keep an eye on the tree line as Amaya led the three of them to the great Willow that stood a little ways in front of the house. The tendrils of leaves provided good cover.
"Just to be sure, we will still be able to change back?" Nagato asked uneasily as Amaya once again, stood in front of them.
"Yep. And once I change you guys, we should be getting portalled out of here via Analia." The ninja nodded as Amaya raised her hand and simply spoke one word.
"Mutationem."
The burning sensation still wasn't very comfortable as their bones twisted, shrunk, and fur grew over their bodies.
Itachi would have preferred to have used a genjutsu but Amaya had said that anything that involved illusions was usually dispelled once they entered the Asylum's boundary. He'd rather not get his witch in trouble. Or bring the wrath of the fan-girls on him and his comrades.
Apparently Kakashi had a very wide network of women young and old who would love to marry him and have his children. It just seemed unlikely to them all that one so perverted had fan-girls. The same applied to Nagato. He had no experience with the opposite sex that he had been shocked to see some of the things Amaya had allowed them to view when asked about the fan-girls.
Itachi stopped his random thoughts once he was four feet tall. He looked to the side to see Scarecrow and Cutie beside him.
"Well. This sucks." Kakashi meowed. "I was hoping we'd be taller."
"Be happy with what you got." Amaya said.
"You can understand us?" Nagato asked in amazement. The last time they'd been cats Amaya hadn't seemed to be able to understand them. Which, as he'd learned, was something that never happened to her.
"Yeah." Amaya blinked before nodding to herself. "Makes sense now. I have been able to see you guys as humans."
"This will save time then." Itachi meowed. Behind Amaya a dark shape seemed to appear out of nowhere. It wasn't exactly silent as the ninja could hear the wind inside it but it wasn't loud either. It was more like the gentle breeze of summer. Fall now, Kakashi thought. They'd all been here for almost two months now. In another week…
"Is that the portal?" Nagato asked looking at the dark shape warily. Amaya looked over her shoulder.
"Yep, that's our ride." She knelt and picked them up before putting them on their 'rightful' place. Itachi on her left shoulder, Kakashi on her right shoulder, and Nagato on her head- all the while balancing like it was just another day in the park. "Hold on guys." With that Amaya walked into the portal.
Kakashi blinked his eyes as, right in front of them, a white doorway appeared like it had been waiting at the end of a dark tunnel. (Now wasn't that a scary thought? He'd like to live a while longer thank you very much.)
When Amaya stepped through the portal Nagato had to blink his eyes at the strange sight before him. Analia and Ariel stood directly in front of Amaya but instead of their usual tunics and leggings (what was with witches and tunics?) they were dressed very differently.
Analia wore a black shortcut that Melody had informed them was called, short shorts or booty shorts. A black see through hooded tanktop that had a grey elbow-length mesh shirt underneath along with black ankle boots. Her sword was strapped to her back while two guns were holstered to her hips in easy reach.
Ariel was dressed much more sensibly in black pants that seemed to be like a second skin. Her t-shirt didn't stand out with the dark green hooded cloak that went to her knees. On her hips Kakashi could clearly see what looked like a dagger while on both arms she wore a long snake that had different colored jewels for eyes.
All in all, Kakashi had to admit that they looked very capable of handling whatever was thrown at them.
"You ready?" Analia asked as they turned to leave the small courtyard. Itachi didn't think that the white hospital building looked as intimidating as whatever waited for them inside, but he knew appearances could always deceive. The courtyard looked like a garden but Itachi could see the way the trees seemed to blow in the invisible wind.
"As I'll ever be." Amaya answered reaching up to make sure they were still with her. Kakashi brushed against her fingers as she scratched his sweet spot but he didn't allow himself to indulge.
"You sure it was a good idea bringing the fuzzballs?" Ariel asked seriously. Since she didn't sound like she disapproved Kakashi meowed at her.
"They wouldn't let me come by myself." Amaya answered. "So it was either knock them all out then leave or listen to their b*tching if something went wrong and they started on the 'I told you so'."
"It does seem like that happens every time we come here doesn't it?" Analia commented. Amaya shrugged careful of Itachi and Kakashi.
The three Guardians walked up the stone steps that led to French doors that held some sort of glass that seemed to be shining with black writing.
"What is that?" Nagato meowed.
"That's witch glass. The writing on it are spells that keep out intruders or evil." Amaya answered.
"You can understand them?" Analia asked in surprise.
"We're just full of surprises." Kakashi remarked in amusement.
"Yep. Don't ask why. I'll explain it later." Amaya said as the doors opened of their own accord.
"Why we have electronic doors while we have magic, I'll never understand." Ariel muttered as they entered the pale and cold lobby. It reminded Nagato of a graveyard. So quiet and still that sound seemed like it would destroy everything.
"That's the perks of living in the 21st century." Analia answered as they approached the glass wired window to see a bored looking receptionist behind it. Analia pressed the white button on the desk.
'Yes?' The witch inside the little room asked turning to look at them.
"Hi. My name's Analia Ream. This is Amaya Black and Ariel Cloud. We're Guardian Team 48. Andromeda Gliss sent us to check the Sixth Floor." The witch behind the desk only handed them a clipboard.
"Sign your name. And no animals on the Sixth Floor.'
'Sh*t.' The ninja cursed. They needn't have worried for Amaya only glared at the witch.
"My familiars are not animals." She hissed. The witch behind the window seemed to realize her mistake as she nodded.
'Apologies Guardian, but the rules clearly state-'
"The rules state that no animals are to enter." Ariel said handing the clipboard to Amaya who quickly signed her name, "The rules say nothing about having your familiars with you." The witch seemed to glare at the ninja in disguise with distaste.
'They'll poop and pee on everything.'
"Excuse me, but I happen to know that our sister has her familiars whipped. They wouldn't dare do something to jeopardize their witch. And trust me," Nagato watched as Analia leant forward only to wiggle her fingers. He could see the thin line of magic that she wove above the witch. "The little rodents are only here because our sister didn't want to chance any of the escapee's finding them and making them into stuffed pillows."
Itachi and Kakashi watched as the witches eyes seemed to dilate before she nodded.
'Fine. But if they make a mess I'll have you responsible for it.' She grumped before taking the clipboard. Three bracelets appeared out of thin air with the witches' names on it along with a big 1:00:00 that seemed to be ticking down. 'Enjoy your visit to the Asylum.'
Amaya took the bracelet and slipped it on. Analia and Ariel followed her example, and just in time to. A buzz sounded along with a click. Analia was the first to reach the wooden door that had opened to reveal a glass elevator.
"This is very unsettling." Kakashi murmured. Amaya snorted.
"You guys wanted to come." They entered the glass elevator without any fanfare or comments. The glass panel that had different numbers on it lit up. Ariel swiped her bracelet over the panel making another button appear in a haze.
Like a mirage. Kakashi thought as Ariel pushed the button.
"Did we get clearance to see their cells?" Analia asked as the elevator lurched up making their stomachs all drop.
"Yep. But only for a few minutes." Amaya answered. They turned around to view the 'back' of the elevator as they passed a floor. Nurses were walking around doing their jobs and scanning over typical clipboards.
It really wasn't that different than a regular hospital. Well until you looked at the patients. Nagato was sure that he saw a man with a flower growing out of the top of his head. A woman further down had skin that changed with every blink of the eye. There was no time to look further since they were already moving to the next floor.
As soon as Nagato got a glimpse of what lay on the third floor his spine seemed to chill. There were patients wearing white robes that all seemed to have a certain glaze in their eyes.
"What is this?" Kakashi asked.
"This is the floor dedicated to those who've gone mad or mental. They aren't dangerous unless something sets them off." Amaya explained.
"Look at that." Analia said. They turned to see a female writhing on the floor and screaming her head off. No sound penetrated the elevator but Itachi could clearly see the woman's lips moving. Nurses rushed to her side but they didn't get to see more as the elevator had already moved up.
"Poor woman. Probably attacked by a banshee." Ariel sighed.
"Banshee… Weren't they witches?" Nagato asked.
"Banshee's are witches who've given into the hurt and loneliness inside them. They scream whenever someone is about to die. They're kind of like Grim Reapers." Amaya explained.
"Grim Reapers with lungs." Analia muttered.
"You've fought one before?" Kakashi asked.
"It's happened. They mainly stay around Ireland though. No one's sure why." They came upon the next floor then. Instead of the last floors, this floor had no one walking around except a lone nurse who was driving a cart filled with different medicines.
"What's on this floor?"
"This is the severely mental ward. This floor and the next one. Only those who are severely disturbed stay on these floors." Amaya said.
"Though why they moved those five here instead of keeping them on the Island, I don't know." Analia muttered.
"They said something about them having 'episodes'." Ariel said as they came onto the fifth floor. Kakashi had to admit that the fifth floor was the most… disturbing. A little girl was sitting outside her door and rocking back and forth. Her hair was covering her face but even then the sense that she wasn't normal hit the ninja hard.
"Don't look at her." Amaya hissed when the girl raised her head. Kakashi resolutely tried to look away. "She's a dark spirit. Her father tried to kill her."
"So that's Yumi Tanashi huh?" Analia muttered as they passed the floor.
"Who?" Itachi meowed.
"Her magic took control of her. Kills anything that resembles a male. She killed ten men before we got smart and sent in the women to bring her here. Last I heard they were making some progress." Ariel explained, probably guessing the question.
"And your boyfriend was on this level?" Itachi asked.
"I'm not surprised." Amaya said. "He was a little off the last time I saw him." The elevator came to a stop. The floor they were on now was more like a giant hall filled with shelves that were overflowing with boxes that looked like they were made out of the finest marble. They even glowed inside.
"Welcome to the Records Room." Ariel muttered as the doors swung open. Kakashi couldn't help his curiosity as some of the boxes rumbled as they passed.
"Don't touch anything." Amaya warned. "The boxes have the memories of the last tenants who were here."
"We got lucky. This is the whole section for the fifth floor." Ariel called when she had walked all the way to the end of the metal shelf. "This and the next few shelves all seem to be from the last century though."
"Wonderful. We get to go on an expedition." Analia chuckled.
"Why not just do a summoning spell? I'd target not go poking through things that cause nightmares." Ariel suggested.
"Do it then." Amaya nodded, "But Itachi and I are going to look at the recordings. His eyes are bound to catch something I'll most likely miss." Itachi couldn't say that he was too unhappy with that.
"Make sure you only watch the TV." Analia grinned. Kakashi and Nagato chuckled as Itachi huffed.
Before he could say anything his fur stood up. The feeling of being watched was strong enough to have him forgetting about the witches to look around.
Kakashi and Nagato were looking around and trying not to change back just so they could take a look around. Being ninja's made them better but also didn't help with the paranoia factor.
"Meet back here in thirty" Amaya ordered. "We could probably have enough time to see their cells."
"On it." Analia nodded.
"Understood." Amaya and Itachi turned and walked in between two metal shelves completely disappearing from Kakashi and Nagato's view.
"You want to do the spell?" Analia asked. "I'll create the table."
"Alright. Just don't break anything." Ariel muttered. Nagato watched as Ariel's hands moved in a wave. Her closed eyes made it seem like she was searching for something.
Nagato heard a thud and looked to see a small table with two chairs appear.
"She's quite good at that." Kakashi meowed from his spot on the table.
Nagato turned quickly at the sound of paper rustling. Five files were flying out of the metal forest at a very high speed. He yowled as one file came to close to him. Ariel's eyes snapped open.
"Sorry about that Cutie." The files all settled into place on the table in front of Analia and Kakashi.
"Lets see what our friend have been up to, shall we?" Analia grinned savagely.
"We're being watched." Itachi said as the sound of whispering feet catch his ears. Amaya nodded.
"I know. It's probably the Keeper of this archive. The Keepers are naturally paranoid and very reclusive." Itachi only nodded as Amaya walked down the walkways seeming to be guided by something he couldn't see. He tried his best to ignore the eyes on him by looking around.
The high shelves only seemed to come to a stop before they touched the high ceiling. And every shelf had its own box of records or a marble box that glowed from the inside. The floors were the most confusing. They seemed to shift every second he looked down at it. The black stones also looked like they were liquid at times.
"I don't like this place." Amaya said suddenly, "The whispering and the damn dust get to you." Itachi nodded in agreement. "And after a while you start to see things at the corner of your eyes."
"It is supposed to be like this?" Itachi asked.
"Yep. Which is why I hate coming here; or to any library, really."
Nothing was said as Itachi kept a lookout as best as he could with the shelves in the way. He'd have preferred being able to be human so he could take to the ceiling and see if this place really looked like such a maze, but that would only get them into trouble.
"We're here." Amaya said at last. Itachi whipped his head around to see a tiny office that was the only place that didn't have any dust around it. Five flat screen TV's stood at attention with six different angles. There was only one chair and one keyboard in sight.
"If the Keeper works here, shouldn't they have been able to see something from the night of the attack and brought it to your superior themselves?" Itachi asked as Amaya took a seat and started to type.
"They usually let us come and do that for them. Like I said, the Keepers are the ultimate loners. They're more neutral than you think and they prefer to stay out of things lest someone, namely the bad guys, hunt them down and tear out their insides."
"But aren't they employed by the Guardians?"
"No. The previous Keeper choses the next Keeper. It's usually someone who's spent their time alone and who hates interacting with people. They're taught and trained to keep files. They only interfere when the Mother, the Maiden, and the Crone interfere directly." Amaya grinned, "Found it." Itachi looked at the fifth screen that had been rewinding this whole time.
Amaya pressed a button and the feed instantly started to play in fast forward.
Nurses came and went from different rooms. Some staying for a certain amount of time and some just pausing briefly. Itachi didn't see anything of relevance until one nurse came around with a different cart and handed out envelopes. Amaya slowed the video down to watch.
"What were the room numbers?" Itachi asked.
"3B, 7H, 5K, 7D, and 9G." The nurse stopped at all five room numbers and handed them an envelope.
"Are they allowed to get letters?" Itachi asked.
"Yes." Amaya stated slowly, "But I don't see why they would get any mail. None of them had any close relatives or friends once they decided to go crazy." Itachi ignored the uncomfortable feeling in his chest when Amaya said that.
"Maybe they had someone no one knew about." Itachi murmured. Amaya blinked rapidly.
"Sh*t. I'm sorry Itachi." Amaya stated quickly picking him up to scratch him and hold him close.
"You are right in a way." Itachi felt her wince.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"I know." Itachi said before wiggling to get free. Amaya let him go but didn't say anything further.
He knew she didn't mean it and felt sorry, but what she had said had hurt. Why would anyone send letters to someone like him? He wasn't innocent. Hell the last girlfriend he'd had, he'd ended up murdering. Why would anyone want a chance to date someone like him? Let alone keep in contact with? Well Sasuke would have but then again he'd made sure his little brother had wanted to kill him and not talk with him about day to day things.
"Something doesn't add up about this." Amaya said suddenly breaking Itachi's depressing thoughts.
"What?" He asked intelligently looking back at the screen. Amaya had slowed the footage down considerably.
"The last time I'd asked about the prisoners, I'd been told that they were too loco to sit patiently for five minutes and read a piece of paper. They'd be more likely to rip it to shreds and eat it just for the sake of imaging it was me and the teams who'd caught them."
"You asked after them?" Itachi asked still stuck on that. Amaya shrugged.
"Yeah. I mean I caught them, I might as well see if they were okay enough to rejoin society, not that they would. But I do take some responsibility for their actions even when I know they're probably not going to get out in this lifetime."
"So they weren't in their right mind to read a letter?"
"No. In fact they were still eating the paper as far as I was told. Something must've happened that made them shut up about wanting revenge to read a letter."
"Can you tell who wrote to them?" Itachi asked.
"Analia and Ariel are going through the records. They should turn up with something."
"Then we should continue with the video." Amaya nodded and clicked the mouse. They watched the video of the day. By the end Itachi was positive that he'd never wished for sound on a security video even more. Even if he'd only hear screams and people shouting.
The screen flickered before resuming play. Itachi narrowed his eyes and looked closer at the screen.
"Amaya?" Itachi asked.
"Hm?" Itachi looked back at her to see her looking through a small log book. She looked up.
"Rewind the tape by one minute." Amaya nodded and put the log book away. She clicked a few times and rewound the time before pressing play. "Watch closely." Itachi ordered. Again the screen fizzled.
"H*ly f*cking sh*t!" Amaya shrieked. Itachi looked back at her quickly to see that she was pale as snow and seemed to be shaking.
"What?" Her grey eyes met his.
"Did you not see that?"
"I saw the screen flicker." Amaya shuddered.
"I forgot you can't see them." She muttered before rewinding the tape again. "Use your Sharingan. That should help somewhat." Itachi did as told and watched the tape again. This time Amaya played the tape screen frame by screen frame. Itachi watched as the screen once again fizzled but this time, instead of lasting only a second, it lasted five minutes.
It started with the rooms that were closer to the stairwell and moved on. Slowly a tall black stick figure moved from room to room and opened the doors letting the prisoners out. Once that was done, the figure seemed to look at the screen before coming closer. The tape suddenly stopped.
"Is that a man?" Itachi asked looking closer at the figure. Amaya didn't say anything. Itachi looked back at her to see her shaking slightly. "Amaya?" She didn't move. "AMAYA?" He turned his attention back to the tape to see that it was playing again, only instead of flickering it seemed to have frozen on the last frame. The man was coming closer to the camera. "AMAYA!"
That seemed to snap her out of it as she quickly jumped back. In her right hand a purple energy formed before she threw it at the TV as quickly as she could. The TV instantly exploded.
Before Itachi could ask anything he was grabbed and pulled into someone's chest. The air around him seemed to crackle as Amaya ran out of the small room and run down the walkways.
"Oh this is so much worse than I thought." Amaya gasped. Itachi decided to stay silent. Amaya was no doubt going to the others. He'd find out soon enough.
"I hate paperwork." Analia grumbled.
"We're not even doing paperwork. We're just looking through these stacks of papers." Ariel commented, "Stop complaining."
"Yes mother." Analia sneered.
"I should have stayed at the house." Nagato meowed. "Her sarcasm is getting to me."
"She and Hidan would make a good match." Kakashi chuckled.
"It wouldn't be Hidan, it would probably be Sasori." Nagato muttered.
"How old is he anyway?" Kakashi asked not looking up from the files. "And does he even have the equipment?"
"He's 35. And Kakashi, I am not asking one of my members if he has…"
"A member?" Nagato glared at him.
"You're a crude man Kakashi Hatake. I'm quite frankly shocked that none of your students have picked up on your habits yet." He would be congratulating Naruto and Sakura on that when he got home.
"Yes." Kakashi mused. "The force seems to be strong with them." Nagato frowned.
"What force are you talking about?"
"Hm? Oh, it's just something I heard Amaya say one day. It seemed to make sense at the time." Kakashi chuckled. Nagato just rolled his eyes.
"Nothing in this world makes sense when it comes to their phrases."
"From what I've been able to make sense of, most of their phrases come from movies. Keira's always saying, 'let it go'. Though I don't think she means it literally."
"I wish I could understand them." Analia's voice reminded the two ninja that they were currently in cat form. Not that they ever forgot it.
"It would make their meowing a little easier to bear." Ariel agreed absently. Her head snapped up. "Why the f*ck didn't I think of that before?" Kakashi and Nagato were just confused as Analia grinned.
"Something's got you cussing. Care to share your brilliant idea Einstein?" Ariel looked at Nagato and Kakashi and raised her hand.
"We've never asked to understand a cat, but right now that would really make us happier than a bat."
"Your rhyming skills suck, you know that?" Analia asked, deadpan.
"Oh shut up." Ariel snapped before looking at Nagato. "Can you sense Itachi?"
"Yes." Nagato meowed.
"Hey, it worked!" Analia cheered. "We can understand you."
"And you said my skills sucked."
"I was commenting on your rhyming." Analia growled before dismissing the whole conversation. "Now care to tell us what you two were talking about?"
"You can really understand us?" Kakashi asked.
"Sure. It's just a simple translation spell. Much better than a subtitle spell." Ariel nodded.
"We were talking about what the 'force' is." Nagato said ignoring that.
"Force?" Analia asked before snickering, "Wait, you mean like 'the force is strong'?"
"Exactly. What does that mean?" Kakashi asked sitting down. The papers weren't going anywhere and Ariel said they could take it with them if they needed to.
"It's from a movie." Ariel explained, going through different papers while also explaining. "Star Wars to be exact. It's kind of like your story, except the hero actually went to the dark side after his wife died. He didn't know she gave birth to their twin children before she died though."
"Yeah, and it's all set in space. With different planets and things." Analia said not even bothering to continue her work. "In the end the hero's son was the one to make everything right. And even then he also lost his arm."
"I guess it's more like the Yondaime Hokage going to the dark side after losing his wife. Naruto would then be the one to save everyone after receiving help from a Yoda-like person." Ariel said.
"And neither of them even knew they were related until the end. Then Darth Vadar died before he met his children and got to know them more. It's an awesome saga!" Analia grinned. "I'm actually surprised Amaya hasn't shown it to you guys yet."
"We're currently watching Lord of the Rings." Kakashi said. "Sakura and Konan seem to like Legolas and Aragorn."
"Those two are hot." Ariel commented, "But remind me to show you guys some other movies later."
"If we ever get out of this place." Analia muttered darkly.
"Hey!" Amaya yelled coming out of nowhere. She looked paler than normal and also very fidgety.
"What's up doc?" Analia asked eager to drop her 'research'. Kakashi mentally filed that away for later.
"We have a problem. The demon that sprung our five prisoners was a level 4 demon. With some extensive knowledge on media magic and spell casting. He freed everyone in under two minutes."
"That's impossible." Ariel said. "The wards around the hospital don't allow any demons in this place. Even if one did get in then the alarms would have been tripped."
"Would it be possible that he used a spell or artifact to help him enter the Asylum?" Nagato asked.
"No, artifacts can't be used like that. They're more of the'death and destruction' variety." Analia murmured. Amaya raised an eyebrow. "Ariel cast a translator spell."
"It was getting annoying just hearing their meowing." Ariel said. "But back on topic, are you sure it could've been a demon?"
"He almost came out of the TV like the Ring." Amaya shuddered. "It was pretty impressive and scary."
"Well sh*t." Analia summed up for everyone.
"Were you able to find anything else out before you stopped or destroyed the TV?" Ariel asked.
"Yeah actually." Amaya nodded. "The prisoners were getting letters."
"What's so off about that?" Kakashi asked.
"They apparently didn't have any close relatives or friends who would have written to them." Itachi cut in. "And the nurse that was handing out the letters wasn't too shy about keeping her hands to herself."
"I knew he would catch something I missed." Amaya muttered.
"You were looking at the log book." Itachi chided.
"For good reason." Amaya stated. "The Keeper was out at the time the demon came in."
"Are you serious?" Ariel asked standing up. Kakashi jumped on the papers that almost ended up flying off the table. He was still reading the psyche reports.
"His log book showed that he left for lunch for about ten minutes."
"Who eats that fast?" Analia asked.
"Naruto." Kakashi and Nagato chimed. Everyone seemed to chuckle at that.
"Well assuming that Naruto isn't a Keeper, which I highly doubt, do you think we can talk to the Keeper?" Ariel asked.
"Not possible." A voice snapped. The ninja tensed while the three witches turned as one to the person who had spoken. A young man about 20 years stood behind the nearest shelf.
"Why can't we talk to Keeper Jones?" Amaya asked in a hard tone.
"Keeper Jones was released from service for his mistake." The man snapped again. Nagato got the feeling that the boy didn't like talking all that much. Every time he spoke he winced as his rough voice came out.
"Do you know where we can find him?" Analia asked coolly.
"I don't see how you could. He died last night." The six all shared a glance. Ariel was the first to straighten and relax.
"Did you know Keeper Jones?" Ariel asked.
"No." The man snapped. Kakashi narrowed his eyes.
"He's lying." He meowed.
"Liar." Analia called him out. "Keepers only choose one successor. They're like father and son, mother and daughter."
"I guess Keeper Jones didn't get the memo." Itachi was seriously getting tired of this kid's attitude. Apparently so was Amaya. She pulled out one long knife.
"Listen Keeper. We need answers and you're the only one who can give it to us. You can run and hide back into the files and shelves but you see these three." She pointed to the ninja. Kakashi saw the kid give each of them a glance before looking back at Amaya. "They can find anyone, anywhere. All they'd need is to have seen you before and they will hunt you down. And when they find you I will enjoy using you for a pincushion."
Kakashi had to hand it to Amaya. She could be scary when she wanted. And the Killer Intent that she aimed at the guy was the perfect amount. He could smell his fear.
"Do the right thing here Keeper. Our sister isn't as patient as we are." Analia smiled.
"All I know is that Keeper Jones went out for a few minutes. When he came back the demon was gone and so were the prisoners."
"Surely you must have heard something?" Ariel asked.
"Every little bit helps." He seemed to hesitate before nodding.
"The smell of rotting meat… I remember the smell." Nagato watched as the three witches tensed. He felt Amaya's hesitation and disbelief like it was his own as the Keeper talked. "Some woman came to see Keeper Jones. I told him not to go with her. She didn't… feel right. Then I heard howling. I closed my eyes and hid. When I woke up everything was fine. I thought it was just a dream."
"Thank you Keeper." Amaya nodded sheathing her knife. "That wasn't so bad now was it?"
"Do you remember anything about the woman?" Analia asked. The man thought about it before nodding slowly.
"She wore a gold amulet. It looked like an upside down V then curved outwards before coming back to the front and making an X."
"Thank you Keeper. You may go." Analia said. He was instantly gone.
"This just got so much harder." Analia sighed.
"What'd you expect? We're on a mission. Answers have never just jumped out at us before." Amaya answered, "But who wears an amulet like that?"
"We should leave." Ariel said,"We won't learn much after this."
"Hey Nagato." Nagato looked up at Amaya, "Do you mind if we use the Akatsuki to help us solve this mystery?"
"I'm sure they would think of this as payment for taking us all in." Nagato nodded. Amaya smiled.
"I feel like we just got on the Mystery Machine. All we need is a talking dog." Analia muttered.
"What's a Mystery Machine?" Kakashi asked. He was confused when Amaya started to laugh and Ariel smacked Analia on the head.
"I think it's time we introduced you to Scooby-Doo." Amaya snickered. Nagato had a bad feeling that the immature members of Akatsuki were going to be a pain in his ass for a while.
GM NASAI: I am so sorry for the delay. In my defense it was Christmas and New Year's combined. And then we got a puppy who looks like a mini 'Clifford' and he's so cute. And then Keira came back and my school informed me that I was almost set and... yeah I could go on with my good excuse but it probably won't help. So anyway I hope you all like this chapter. It took a good long while to even think it up since I was going through some writer's block. Reality just came and bite me, hard.
I realized when a Guest commented that most of you will probably be confused about Amaya calling her cousins her siblings when they're really her cousins. Let me enlighten you all. I'm Native American (and proud of it) so I've been raised to think that my cousins are really my siblings. I chose to incorporate that into this since Amaya's brother and sister will most likely be somewhere doing their own thing. And Amaya is the most family oriented out of her family so yeah.
Oh and before I forget, again. I will be going back to school on the 12th. Which means updates won't be so frequent and it might take a while to finish this story. I'm not sure what the schedule will be but when I find out I will tell you guys. So just bear with me and recommend my story to people and the plant behind you. LOL.
I do believe that I covered things. Oh and since I got some reviews I promised an omake. ;)
"Alright, court is in session." I banged my marble orb paperweight against the desk. Hard enough to get everyone's attention and light enough to not break it. I turned my gaze to Kakuzu and Hidan. "Will the Defendent, Kakuzu, please tell me why I just halted my run with my sister?"
"This idiot." He pointed to Hidan who was looking very black, blue and swollen, "Was spying on me and Keira." I raised an eyebrow and looked at Hidan.
"And why was the plantiff spying on his partner and my brat?"
"Simple your honor,"Hidan's smirk was still working as he just demonstrated, "I heard singing."
"Continue."
"I wanted to know who the f*ck was singing a girly song since it sounded like a guy. I thought it was Deidera at first but then I remembered that she-male was with his 'danna'. So I grabbed the camera and went to look. I saw this ugly f*cker and Keira singing karaoke." He pointed to Kakuzu who looked like he would rather rip Hidan into pieces.
"Karaoke? What song?" Mel asked.
"Witnesses will speak when spoken to, not before." I said glaring at her, Nagato, Sasori and Kisame.
"Fine."
"Continue." I nodded to Hidan.
"I couldn't believe this sh*tface was actually singing along so I recorded him." Hidan smirked.
"And for that I pummeled him." Kakuzu stated simply. My curiosity was now raging like an inferno.
"Yes well in order for me to believe that I'll need to see the evidence." Hidan smirked and held up the camera in his one undamaged hand. "Sasori?" I asked politely. He rolled his eyes but used his chakra strings to get me the camera. I grabbed the USB cord and plugged it into the computer. A few clicks later and the video came on.
Kakuzu and Keira were in my bedroom facing the flat screen holding pink microphones and singing along to 'Cause You're My Zing'.
I'll admit it was cute. And so did everyone else who was either snickering or trying to not smile at the image. Kakuzu's face darkened with every second that the video played. I decided to stop before he ended up killing all of us.
"...Well." I tried to be professional but I was trying so very hard to not laugh. "I can see that your beating of Hidan was... very reasonable."
"Of course." Kakuzu narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Your honor, I respectfully request that that be destroyed."
"I think that can be arranged. As long as you refrain from beating Hidan to a pulp again, and in front of the kids." I cut in before he could talk, "And that includes maiming."
"Fine." He growled. I nodded before continuing.
"I hereby sentence Hidan to ten hits from Akasuna no Sasori, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto. When he is finished he will report back to me. And as for this," I held up the camera before placing it on my desk. A ball of energy formed in my hand the size of a marble. I threw it at the camera causing it to go up in flames. "It has been dealt with." I banged my orb on the desk again. "Court is adjourned."
Kakuzu instantly grabbed Hidan's hair and dragged him out of the Library with Hidan cussing behind him.
"I think he really wants Hidan to get his punishment." Mel laughed. I smirked and folded my hands together.
"That's fine." The ninja and my sister exchanged looks.
"You didn't get rid of the camera did you?" I chuckled evilly causing Sasori to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh I did. I just didn't destroy the SD card and the copy I made when I hooked the camera up to the computer."
"... You are evil." Kisame gapped.
"Au contrair my fishy friend. If I was truly evil I would have sent that video to Analia and Ariel." I clicked the send button, "Which I just did." I got up, "Come along sister. We must finish our run. I need to be back in time to reward Hidan." I walked out of the Library laughing at what Ana and Ariel were probably doing right now.
Meanwhile two girls were rolling on the floor laughing their heads off in front of their superiors and fellow Guardians alike.
Guardian Jose looked at his superior then to his fellow Guardian Micha.
"Do you think she's okay?"
"Guardian Analia has always been a little off." His friend commented. "And Guardian Ariel... I always knew she would crack one day."