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For the second time in recent memory, Naruto's eyes slowly opened to a sterile room with sterile air, that clinical smell of cleanliness tickling at his nose and irritating his dry throat. His body, aching so, barely lifted itself out of its silken prison… oh how the skin stung as the sheets pulled across it, his eyes going down to his chest, to his arms, to his legs… The scars that remained, reinforced by the Fuinjutsu embedded into them, truly did resemble branches of a tree and winding roots, letters and such no longer eligible as much as they were melded together to form twisting bark and odd symbols across his body.
It felt… unreal. Yesterday he woke up in the hospital thinking he could go out and attempt once again to become a shinobi, by his grandfather's words and now here he was waking up in another medical cot, in a prison, marked with a seal that he had no choice but to don… the beeping clock that had awoken him kept its annoying repetition until he turned to it and slammed his fist down upon it, the once flashing 04:55 now a mess of broken plastic. It stung, as he watched the plastic shards push themselves out of his skin…but when it closed up with not a drop of blood, it was easily forgotten. To be honest, in the face of the pain he felt yesterday; it was barely anything in comparison.
"I don't think that's how you're supposed to shut those off Gennin Uzumaki".
Jumping off his bed, he turned to the voice only to see the door close behind a black robed figure; a mask befitting a bird on…her face. That voice again... "I am Sparrow. I will be your handler for your stay here in Anbu HQ. sit, Eat…". His eyes went to the tray in her hands as he lowered himself to the bed, only to blink at the.. singular bar that was sitting on it. Along with a glass of something. "Uh, Sparrow…sensei? I don't suppose you have any ramen on hand do you…?".
If a mask could give a deadpan stare, he was sure this is what it would look like. He sighed and reached for the bar, only for her voice to cut through the air again. "Ramen, while ok for a mild snack or a rushed lunch should not be the basis for a diet, Gennin Uzumaki. While staying here you will be instructed to eat and given only to eat, these nutrient bars for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are carefully crafted meal supplements that shall take care of your caloric intake, nutrient requirements and with any luck, help fix your malnourished state.". disappointment ran through the blonde, but he dare not speak it…this was the only Anbu that had been nice to him so far, so when he turned his eyes to the black..bubbling… drink, he gulped. "and..that..?"
Another few seconds of silence, making he boy worried before Sparrow sighed. "Cola. A carbonated drink consisting of citrus fruits and a caramel flavoring, imported from the land of hot springs… Trust me. You'll want it". The blonde blinked before looking down at it, shrugging. It didn't sound that bad. With little thought he picked up the nutrient bar and took a large bite out of it, stuffing the second half in just as fast without worrying bout the flavor- oh dear god he should have worried about the flavor.
Nearly choking as the mass went down his throat, the boy took the drink and downed it too, coughing while slapping his chest. "H-How did you somehow give Beige a Flavor?! How can something be so plain and so… revolting all at once!?". Sparrow did not give the boy an answer, simply stepping back towards the door as the boy continued his coughing spree. "next time, be up in time to get the nutrient rations that others do… now come, You are late for training".
Scrambling to his feet, he ran after the woman in Anbu uniform, hoping today would not be as painful as the day before.
His hopes proved to be false, as Naruto laid with his face embedded into concrete with the bear masked Anbu from before standing atop him with a heavy bootprint being pushed into the blonde's cheek. "LATE! GENNIN UZUMAKI, DO YOU THINK I AM A JOKE!?". The struggling blonde barely managed to mutter out a 'no' before the boot pushed harder down onto him, causing him to cry out I pain. "DO YOU THINK MY TIME IS YOURS TO WASTE!?". He let out another struggling grasp for air; thankful when the man pulled their foot from his skull only to groan as he received a kick to the stomach that sent him sliding across the stone floor to the wall instead.
"Get. Up!". Not wanting to be a doormat again; Naruto rose to his feet just in time to roll out of the way as the Anbu dashed towards him; a spin kick embedding steel heel into the wall as Naruto scrambled away. "what the hell Geezer-bear!?". His answer came in the form of another heel, just scraping the skin from his chin as he managed to back away. As the skin healed back, Naruto was forced to duck; Roll, Dive and Dodge the Kicks sent his way.
"A shinobi must be prepared at any time to fight! You come here with no armor, No weapon, In your SKIVIES! ARE YOU INSULTING ME BOY!?". Bones cracked as naruto crossed them to block another downwards heel kick, causing the boy to hiss in pain. He channeled chakra to the broken bones, only for the effort to prove for little as a second kick followed up the first, breaking his guard and sending him skidding across the floor. "…Stand. Up. I'm not done with you yet brat".
"that.. fucking.. word.. again.."
As the footsteps got closer to him, naruto began to push himself up off the floor only for the same boot to come crashing down on the back of his head. He felt teeth crack, and his nose shatter, but this time he did not let 'bear' Know it. As blood pooled around him and he felt the ichor block his airways; he began to push back, only managing to turn his head to the side before bear shoved it back down to the concrete.
"….."
"What was that, shitheap? Speak up, I can't hear you from under my boot". Naruto's eye tuned to glare up at bear, one half of his vision blood red from the pool it was soaked in, the other blood red in appearance as steam rose from his face, his nose snapping back into place and teeth growing back out of the gums. "I said… I'm going to rip that Fucking mask off of your face..". Bear's answer came in the form of loud crack as his boot clipped the side of Naruto's head, only for the boy to grab his ankle with a tight grip and tighter claws. "GET, OFF, OF, ME! RAAAAAGHHH!".
Bear had little time to prepare as he felt himself be Hoisted from the floor and Flung through the air as if he were a ragdoll, thankfully having the skill to reinforce his landing with chakra as he hit the wall on the far end of the training room. To his eyes, the blonde's skin began to steam all across its exposed surface, the arm that threw him twice the size of the other, the black veins of his curse mark in full display. "ok then Uzumaki… We got the beast out, now… lets see if you can control it".
Leaping off of the wall, bear took off in a sprint towards the Feral boy at Mid Chunnin speed, Ducking under a wild swing from the lad and returning it with a backwards fist to the head. Even as he heard the boy's skull bounce off the floor, he was pressed to bend backwards as Naruto turned and dived for him, Kyuubi enhanced fangs and claws on full display. Boot to the Stomach; Bear flung the boy into the air and flipped off his hands to gain some distance, taking no satisfaction in the way the boy landed with a sharp crack. Any trained eye could see the arm was broken… until it wasn't.
"RAAAGGGH!", Bear watched on in amazement as the arm snapped itself back into position as if the injury had never appeared in the first place, mere moments after it had been broken. He Ducked, Turned and rolled away from the Attempted clawing of his mask from the Primal Pounce of the enraged Naruto, holding up a ram symbol. "BIND!". Bellowing rage gave way to screams of pain as the tattoo on his skin blazed an angered red, black marks and bulging muscles receding before Naruto collapsed, panting… steaming. "…You passed my first test, but failed the second, Uzumaki. You Will refer to me as Bear-Sensei from now on and we will be working on controlling your rage and your strength, understand?". The weak nod from the boy allowed the man to relax, looking down to the thin lines of red the boy's claw had drawn on his ankle.
"..Go on. You don't want to be late for Sparrow's lesson. She's just as harsh a sadist as I am".
~{SM}~
As it turned out, Sparrow as at least Thrice the sadist that bear was. Strapped to a medical chair in a sterile room; Naruto's eyes followed the Anbu operative as she walked around the room with a doctor's coat on in favor of her standard issue cloak and armor; Her mask containing wrappings that did well to hide her skin and hair color by binding her head and neck. All he saw was the black voids in her mask that hid her eyes from him, The boy pulling on his restraints nervously. "So uh.. W-what's the Point of this training Sparrow-sensei? Eh..?". The lack of a response from the woman drew more growing hesitance from the boy, tugging on his restraints a little harder before she rested one of her hands on his.
And proceeded to slice off all but his thumb in one fell swoop.
As he screamed out in pain, he barely managed to focus as the woman collected the fingers up before they shriveled away into ash from the Kyuubi's chakra. "Interesting… So She wasn't exaggerating. Your lost extremities really do dissolve away". But he was not paying attention, thrashing in his restraints as blood poured from the vacant stumps. She lashed out, striking him across the face to make him focus on her, tears pouring down his cheeks from the pain. "WHAT THE HELL YOU CRAZY BITCH!".
"Regenerate".
His eyes focused on her, hatred in them as the cursed seal began to flare up only for her to raise the binding seal, the boy reduced to further screams of pain as the seal combined with his missing fingers wracked his body in pain. Again, she spoke. "Regenerate. Without your seal". Not wanting to go through further pain, Naruto focused on his hand, Guiding the chakra inside of him the same way he had back at the shop. Sparrow watched on in awe as once again, the bones grew first.. then muscle. Then Skin.
"hah.. hah.. there, Happy no-AHHH!". This time she did not bother collecting the fingers, absently wiping the blood from her mask as she stared down at him. "Faster". She watched on as her 'Student' Thrashed in the chair at the pain, Crying out as any child with low pain tolerance would… the other hand was the next to go, coating her sandals in blood as both set of stumps sprayed the life essence. "Regenerate Uzumaki!". The regeneration occurred slowly this time; the boy unable to focus on the feeling of it outside of the pain as he doubled forward, Gagging at the sensations he was being forced to feel.
"W..Why.."
Sparrow Tsk'ed beneath her mask, walking back around and pulling Naruto's head upwards, Clamping down a shackle around his neck to keep him sat upright before she slowly sat down upon his lap… inside, he could see her eyes at last. Green. Such a beautiful shade of green, yet so…empty.. her voice tickling his ear. "You… cannot escape anymore Uzumaki. No Jutsu, no Substitution, No defenses… What you cannot dodge will hurt you, Cut you, Slice you, Bludgeon, Crush, Rip you apart… You will be a liability to anyone on the battlefield if you do, not, Regenerate from your wounds. Pain cannot hold you back any longer, or it will get everyone you love, killed… now.."
A sharp crack came from Naruto's nose as she slammed her elbow into it, the bloody ichor splattering her mask and his shirt. "Regenerate!". The boy just coughed in pain, unable to hide the wince as he felt bone snap back into place and flesh sew shut. Another, this time to the collarbone as she snapped it in two. "Regenerate!".
"PLEASE STOP!"
"You enemies won't stop Uzumaki, Why should I!? REGENERATE!". She watched in morbid fascination as the bone realigned itself and snapped back into place once more, taking a full 15 seconds to do so. This time, she let her hand come under his eye to the claw marks under it.. raising a scalpel to the orb which had already been documented as regenerating once more. Before it entered, she stopped.. Her green eyes locking with his under her mask. "Trust me, Uzumaki… Your enemies will seek to do everything they can to make you beg for them to stop…"
As he tried to thrash, for nothing, even as the scalpel got closer to his eye, the blonde's gaze flicked all over in a panic, even as he felt her thumb peel back the lid. "torture is the bread and butter of any Shinobi Intelligence… If you cannot Defend.. then you must learn to endure… now… Regenerate!"
The blonde's screams of pain filled the hallway of the Anbu HQ for hours to come.
~{SM}~
When nightfall came outside of the Anbu halls, Moonlight shining down on the village below, One particular Kunoichi could be seen drinking her fill outside of her usual Dango hut. Anko, Downing sake by the bottle, Groaned as she dragged a hand down her face. "Can't believe I let them have the kid… how could he do this, I thought he was better than that".
The sound of laughter drew her attention to a passing Gennin team, A blonde with clothing much like her own, A boy with Hair like her own and a boy with an appetite like her..own, her eye twitching as she looked at the sensei and dared fate to give a similarity. "…Hey Monkey-boy!". The walking chimney stack known as Asuma Sarutobi stopped on a dime, looking over to Anko with a blink and then a small smile. Team in tow, he made his way over to her with a low chuckle. "Getting plastered already Anko? Your promotion to Jounin proving that stressful for you?"
"Uh… sensei? Who is this?". the blondie piped up, Anko's eyes flickering to her before watching the recognition in her eyes. "OH! You're that woman dad complains about all the time for being too rough on prisoners at T&I". Asuma's deadpan stare and Anko's snort met the young Yamanaka in reply, before the Kunoichi raised her sake and downed it in one. "Yep-'hic'- that's me… ol..trouble causing Anko, Poison to allll she knows.". it did not take long for red flags to start waving in Asuma's head, the man turning to his gennin with a smile
"Why don't you three go and get some dango, My treat". With a hungry Akimichi dragging the other two off despite their Protests, Asuma waited till they were out of sight before sitting next to the Snake summoner and leaning down. "Ok what's the matter, You're never this drunk unless something has gone wrong. Did they miss Orochimaru agai-"
"WHERE!?". Anko Jumped up onto the table, kunai brandished as she looked around manically... Only to fall back onto her chair when she remembered where she was, using said kunai as an anchor to pull herself back up to a sitting position with the chair. "…They took em asu…". He blinked, looking at the pouting Interrogation expert as she began carving something into the table. "Took… Who?".
"My fairydust prince, the fuck do you think Monkeybrains. My student, They took my student from me. I was.. I thought they finally gave me someone to work with, but nnoooooooo… Your papa's own 'Education' squad took em..". the bearded Man's skin began to pale rapidly, knowing exactly who the 'education' squad was.
"they took a gennin? Are you serious anko!?". The woman nodded, looking back to him with an angry glare and…tears in her eyes? "And your old Goat allowed them. The kid had no idea where he was going but because he had a mark like mine, poof. Off he goes… bet that bitch sparrow is already taking advantage of his healing..". Shaking those horrifying images from his head, Asuma scootched forwards and leaned in close, frowning as he spoke to her. "Alright Anko, Tell me everything you can and hold nothing back, got it?".
Meanwhile; Off to the side, Ino Yamanaka could be seen berating her overweight teammate on ordering way too much food once again, While the quieter of the trio watched their sensei from the reflection in a nearby window… his eyes focusing on them as he took in every word the man said, best he could with his limited lip reading… although there was one name he picked out with ease, along with a number of different words and phrases.
Reeducation
Training
Torture
Conditioning
Seal away
Naruto…
"Naruto? Why is he coming up… What don't you want us to know sensei…"
~{SM}~
When Hiruzen Sarutobi read the report on his desk, He was surprised to find just how far the depths of his anger could go. Looking up at the woman in front of him, he was needless to say; furious with what he saw. And yet even with this expression clear on his face, she continued. She continued to spout off information that no one in his position would want to know about the boy he had signed over to them. When he looked back down at the paper, eyes heavy with fury and guilt, her voice became but a warbled echo… but it did little to hide the horror of what he read.
"Are you done, Operative Sparrow…". She silenced herself in an instant, looking down at her leader as he examined her findings, the paper sadly having one or two bloodstained fingerprints on it… and they both knew it was not her blood. "the boy was sent to you for observation, And now I find you TORTURING the boy? You had to use his seal, EIGHTY SEVEN TIMES! If it was the caged bird seal or worse, he would be dead by now, and gods above; I find it hard to believe that he isn't mentally dead as it is. Removing eyes? Fingers, Toes, Ears, TONGUE-"
"I got tired of him begging". "HE SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO BEG!". The walls shook with the bellowing roar of grandfatherly rage leaving the hokage's lips, the two in a staredown as he slowly… slowly sat back in his chair… "What… On earth… Were you thinking". The Woman blinked, slowly taking off her mask before putting it on the desk… letting the old man look upon her face and see the tiredness in it. The disgust. The cold fury and the hate…
"I was thinking that I would rather it be someone who'd let him sleep till the next morning, than someone who'd go till he died on the battlefield Sir. I care to see him prepared to handle the pain he will feel on the battlefield, with or without our teaching. He had to learn not to call upon his curse mark in stressful situations and to keep it subdued, He had to learn how to endure the torture and pain he will feel without ways to defend himself from capture or from genjutsu and the like… and we need to know the limit of his healing, else he may suffer a wound he feels he can take and die in the process… Sir You know who I am. When The mask goes on, Sparrow Is all that remains… I get the job done, and I get it done correctly…if you wish for me to not put it on again, I will follow your command".
To say the old man looked as tired as they come was an understatement of the highest order. He just gazed into those empty, emerald eyes, and sighed… walking around to cup the woman's face, his own reflected In her gaze. "I know you mean well… but he is a Child, sparrow. He can't be expected to take all this, we can't be like danzo and his root". The woman just stared back, before turning her empty gaze down to his chest, staring through him as her hand slipped her mask back to her face. "It is because he is a child, Sir, That I must prepare him for what is to come. The likes of our enemies will not falter because he is young, so he must not when they strike at him without mercy. I will Prepare him for what is to come, Sir… and then, when it is all said and done, When he greets pain as an old friend and uses it to his strength and not his weakness…"
"then, Sir… I will lay my scalpel down"
