Transmission #7-3-7-5; Designate: "Joker"
North Side the Wall, Tokyo Urban; Hidden Village: "Leaf"
Konoha - Tree Leaf Hospital; Subject 9 is currently stable and mending; status under further monitoring
0300 hrs, December 2nd, 1963
"アラート! ...アラート! ...アラート!"
The alarm rang off in his head loudly, alerting him to get under his desk. Another drill, he thinks, as he scrambles. The fourth one today. How many more can we possibly have?
Lamentably, this had been the routine for on the base for three months now. Now the entirety his life was routine, his only priority, and only thing the armed soldiers said was keeping him alive. "Discipline," they reiterated. The only thing defining them from the barbarians at the gates, and of which there were many.
For they were losing this war.
Despite what everyone was trying to say and believe, their work won't save them now
The subject wasn't ready, how she's been "tainted", everything about her was no longer right. The Frau Doktor would not hear of such excuses, however; she will be prepped for the first trials as soon as possible. Japan's fate did not dictate their progress, the defeat of the Axis was not her priority; she will see the experiment on through till the end. The gods were calling for the door to be opened, for humanity to see them once more.
Naruto knew they couldn't go on like this.
"アラート! ...アラート! ...アラート!"
A fireball turns the lab into a crucible. Naruto's shocked by the heat and shattering glass as it burns his skin and peels it off his arms. He cries out in stinging pain. Everyone does. They all run, toss and turn in flames; screaming, melting... Water gathers at his feet, vibrations rippling down the hall. The voice - it's voice - does not stop. It's calling him, it knows his name. And it wants him as it wanted her.
"アラート! ...アラート! ...アラート!"
"Отсюда должен быть какой-то выход!"
All the world shakes, threatening to cave this damning maze down on his head; whoever had the bright idea putting their entire operation down here should be shot. And Naruto would see to it himself. "0413479...0413479.." These numbers fly past - each cell door is padlocked in steel and iron and carries the same numbering. Naruto feels the nigtmare come out through him like he's breathing fire. He coughs something coppery black which stains his hands, his checkered pants, his white wing-tip shoes. Stumbling almost head over heels, he falls.
But at the last moment he's caught.
An auburn face with amber eyes looks to him. It expects so much, yet hesitates to speak; the young man simply stands Naruto up, and then steps back. Words are meaningless here and carry no sound, as Naruto tries to ask who he was, why is he here, why are THEY here. The dour visage says nothing, but continues to step away and watches. To Naruto he feels real enough - not like this dream, which is too alien. He wears the familiar uniform of the State - he recognizes the tan and brown and red. Gold filigree matches the shimmer in his eyes, as those shining metal tips outline his epaulets.
Naruto tries to ask him again what he wants, what is going on, but that noise is drowned in a flood of numbers repeating over and over. 0413479...0413479...0413479. The hallway seems endless and could go on forever, but the voice guides him. It speaks to him; it is the only thing Naruto hears in this dying place. He follows it, and the auburn man with the amber eyes follows him.
All while the voice calls out.
"Je ne peux obtenir aucun soulagement..." It goes.
"アラート! ...アラート! ...アラート!"
Goes the alarm just as he reaches a stained metal door, the numbers 0413479 etched above, heat and rage radiating from within. A whirlwind feels like its coming from the other side, and Naruto hesitates. The auburn haired man stands aside, but looks on hungrily. Waiting, watching, hoping Naruto can act upon this storm carrying him further. Yet, as his hands graze the cool fastenings of the cell's handle, he relents.
Something inside him breaks.
And with a flash of bright light Naruto awakes once more from the nightmare, drenched in sweat and gasping.
Three days...
Three whole days reliving this same nightmare, and being cuffed to this fucking hospital bed. Why, he wasn't told; leastwise not by his ROOT handler. She was one of the few faces given leave to see him. Ever since they pulled his carcass from the Forest of Death. The first day upon being admitted into Tree Leaf, Naruto was told he'd officially been labeled dead; once the fever took hold, the last remaining bits of his chakra were sapped, and his hear essentially stopped. It was a dead one shouldn't be able to come back from. A "dead" made of bright lights, fond memories, and distant regrets. A dead which was truly, utterly final.
Welp, he didn't get any of that.
Instead, what he got was a stinging, fucking painful feeling in the dead-center of his chest, a hard jolt which rocked his entire body, and black.
A lot of black.
That rolled over into a whole slew of visions he'd rather try and forget.
Naruto couldn't exactly tell you what happened when the clone finally dissipated and he was made whole again. Tsubaki said to him when he finally came to in his sad little Tree Leaf Hospital bed, that the sensory overload once he was made whole put him into shock. The prolonged effects of utilizing the shadow clone technique pushed him to his limits, she said to him. "Your nerve endings were completely shot - we still can't be sure how much damage occurred to your muscles. You're gonna be due for a lot of PT. So, look forward to that. Before you went into cardiac arrest, your heart was pumping at a rate of one-forty over a hundred. Normal, if you were the size of a house and just ran 2 km's. Once we finally brought you 'back', though, came the fever. In the time it took us to stabilize you, you'd lost six pounds."
"I'm not eating this," Naruto looks at the sad little plate before him: a bowl of miso soup, a handful of burnt rice, and a sardine. The only thing halfway palatable were the damn soldier pills he was forced to take. At least with those he was allowed honey.
"You need to get your strength back," Tsubaki pushes the plate forward, urging him to eat.
She tells him his body was working overtime to fight off the effects of...something. Tsubaki believed at first it had something to do with the wasp venom hanging about his body - they were so many bites and stings it looked like he'd gotten chicken pox. After giving him ibuprofen, though, the swelling didn't dissipate. Instead, it got worse. Then she thought it was a viral pocket; his chakra was depleting to fight off some form of infection, causing it to drop dangerously low.
"The only thing that saved you was your friend giving you a bit of hers."
"Sakura-chan..." Naruto's hand goes to the small cut made near his neck.
His teammate was only allowed to see him sparingly after he woke, for his "interviews" took precedence. The line of questioning the ROOT commissars harangued him with were ceaseless and unending. The "state" Aburame Shino was most peculiar, they told him. They were looking for a bit of insight as to what transpired. For their report, you see; if the information isn't catalogued it might as well not have happened. Naruto played it as coy as they did. He said his memory was fuzzy, after his shadow clone and he became whole things became a blue. He did technically "die" - a good enough excuse to forget.
Tsubaki seconded this, along with the elderly Dr. Kawada. Though, Naruto wondered how much weight his word carried considering; Kawada looked more dead than he did. But being one of the few doctors who survived the State purges in '50, meant the ROOT agent didn't question further. Sakura told him it was only protocol, but Naruto would've appreciated if his waking hours weren't spent in interrogation.
Sakura didn't let up, though, on getting him to open up.
"Trying to see if my story will change every time I say it?" He says with a little bit of hesitation; it wasn't in him to doubt Sakura-chan, but since the forest, she seemed more buttoned up than normal.
Her junior commissar's uniform clung tight to her, pressed and ironed with a professional touch. The stark sheen of the tan and red cloth was spotless, and shone bright in the vanilla drab of his hospital room. Perhaps the stuffy ensemble gave her comfort, the only thing which was keeping her together in lieu of the "incident" at Watchtower 12.
That was what everyone was calling the attack. An "incident". And the State was peddling the most tidiclicous lies to cover it up.
Lghtning had struck an reft rod which caused a generator to blow. Faulty wiring in the command HQ's pit sparked and set off a chain reaction resulting in a blast. An old cache of of explosives - most of Aokigahara's forts and towers were supplied with such, in case a future conflict needs to "won" there - exploded when a careless chunin watch fiddled with the wrong explosive tag.
The official narrative was a facade, a lie everyone was forced to swallow. Including him; evidenced each time his ROOT intelligence officer came knocking. They probed as much as they dared - Naruto sensed they relented some, but ever sidestepped when he asked of what transpired. Always, he was stonewalled. "Your concern now, Comrade Uzumaki, should be to your current state; allow those better equipped to handle such incidents to their own devices. And we will leave you to yours." Which, evidently, meant leaving him in handcuffs.
He'd asked Sakura when they hell they had it in them to let him go, but she too evaded; she was getting better at that, sounding more and more State-like with her line of questioning. However, at least with her the concern was also somewhat real.
"You really don't remember anything?" She pressed, worry lacing her words. Naruto felt a pang of guilt; going back to the Bridge Builder's words, he hated to think Sakura-chan would be one of those people he had to watch out for. But - and as much as he hated not doing so - speaking the truth of what was behind all this felt like opening Pandora's box. He wanted to trust Sakura , but Naruto was wary: Sakura's inquiries felt like a test, and he wasn't sure if he was passing or failing.
Sakura leans in close, expression softening despite the tension. "Truth is what we believe, Naruto. I'm not trying to catch you in a lie. I want to know if you believe what you're telling to Comrade Samui. Because if she doesn't, that's not good."
"Oh, 'comrade Samui'? She's got a name now," He says, commenting indignantly on the ROOT officer who played wallflower to Iruka for a time, and now was his inquisitor. Their conversations never went further than the notebook she carried and swift movement of her pen. Maybe that was a silver lining; if she talked as much as she scribbled, her prodigious chest could only do so much to hold one's attention.
Sakura sighs and leans over the chair next to the hospital bed, bring her hands up to rub away the headache coming on.
"Naruto this is as BAD a situation as we've ever dealt. They want to know what happened - We all do. You were barely hanging on when Sasuke returned with Ino, and worse still when the ANBU got to us. I'd thought you'd die before we could get any help - then I hear you did die, but came out of it. I wouldn't know, though: ROOT came swooping in to take you away from us while I've been running around here, taking care of our wounded friends and whoever else was in the blast, going in and out of the burn ward more than I've ever wanted to be. Seeing Comrade-Sensei Kakashi the way he is..."
When Sakura told him of Comrade-Sensei Kakashi's condition, he could see her trembling; a constant in both their lives for as long as their calls to being shinobi were accounted for, Kakashi never felt as far away as he did now.
Being where he was, apparently, in the rookery - corroborated by eyewitnesses who saw him go there, Kakashi was mercifully spared a worse off fate than if he stayed in the Command Pit. Sakura erred on caution telling Naruto everything; not in a way to hide from him, but moreso not give false hope. Kakashi was stabilized, induced into a coma to better treat his injuries: fourth-degree burns, broken ribs, punctured lungs, and a massive hematoma developing on the left side of his chest due to being found under rubble.
And, yet, his condition was considered a mercy compared to most.
The long list of names Sakura counted made Naruto sick, making him see stars as rage ate away the last meager means of his stamina. Choji's father - a once notable ninja during the war - died protecting his erstwhile comrades. Using his Baika no Jutsu to grow three times his normal size, Choza turned his body into a literal shield from the blast. How many he saved is unknown. But as the tower crumbled around this giant, as he held up the burning debris about his shoulders, it cannot be understated how much higher the count could've been.
"But the number's still high. Too high. Higher than Sapporo can hide."
Iruka says this to Naruto quietly, softly, ensuring Comrade Samui - ever still his shadow, as much as she was turning into Naruto's - doesn't overhear. They walk the hospital grounds; a small square of blue stone, white sand, and quaint koi ponds. It was a nice luxury - upon leaving, Sakura succeeded in getting Naruto outdoors leave. "Part of his physical therapy," she pressed upon Naruto's guards. "Nurse's orders - he needs movement or he'll never fully heal. Or should I fetch the Hokage?" Naruto was grateful for that, even if she left annoyed he still didn't tell her anything.
Likewise, Naruto thought.
But his thoughts soon grew cheerier as Iruka dropped by soon after. He too had been busy working through the rigamarole of the ordeal, but upon finding Naruto was awake, he dropped all to come see him. So he says, of course. Along with a few other things. "Twenty-four fatalities in total. Majority being chunin and jonin located near the command pit, but there are notables."
Mitokada Homura and a good portion of the generalship are confirmed fatalities. Utatane Koharu and five from a camera crew in tow with her, as well. Daimyo Kaneko is hanging on, though two from his staff - a press secretary and a personal butler are missing. But the two biggest names Iruka saved till the end, and made especially sure Comrade Samui was well out of earshot; tough, considering Naruto trudged along with his walker - another courtesy Sakura requisitioned for him before she left
"Defense Minister of the South Danzo Shimura, and the Director of ROOT Yakushiji Tenzen: gone. Tenzen was blown to bits right in front of a camera recording for a live audience. Saving grace is not everyone in the North has tv. So, that's good - I think. Still, Sapporo's wasted no time handling the story before rumor becomes untenable. There's a lot of confusion right now. A lot of fear. The Politburo can't blame the South because it was their Defense Minister who got caught in the blast, and they can't praise it even if Danzo was considered a betrayer to umpteenth degree."
Iruka continues telling Naruto the bind is even more problematic when trying to figure who this was all meant to benefit. Because as far as the State could find, there was no one. The entire ordeal - as it is laid out - seemed primed only to hurt, and Sapporo hadn't the slightest inkling who could've done it. Only logical conclusion in their eyes was Asuma, and that notion was preposterous to Naruto.
"Not the way they see it." Iruka goes; they round a corner of the, edging closer to a small, bubbling waterfall. Iruka makes a note to sit by a bench, and looks down to the orange and white fish slowly huddling together for warmth. Naruto joins, keeping note of Samui in the background. "The Hokage was the only one separated when the accident occurred. Security - even if ROOT was on-hand - mostly fell onto Konoha's lap. This is too big to not have someone to blame. Thing is, though, we can't blame the Americans because we need the blockade to end. We won't blame ourselves. So, they're working on blaming someone. Despite Koharu being gone, amazing how efficient her machine still is."
"That's insane," Naruto bites his tongue.
The damnable hypocrisy could've been seen by even the most ignorant of jackasses. If the entire thing was being deemed a freak accident, judging off all the stupidity typed in Red Flag newspaper, what need would Sapporo have for a whipping boy? Brings Naruto back to all those beatings, whippings, public humiliations, and punishments endured in front his classmates. To be prostrated as a lesson to be learned, a cautionary for The People to see. Hushed, Naruto says this much to Iruka. Surely, he must feel the same. Yeah, he was a captain now still, but he couldn't think Asuma taking the blame for this was right.
"Naruto, sshh!" Iruka warns Naruto; rank alone would compel him to report the boy if anything untoward be said. To the State or any determination made by The Noble One himself.
As if Naruto ever cared or listened to authority.
"Oh, 'sshh', my ass - That one's already made up her mind about me no matter what I say." Naruto nods toward Samui keeping her distance, but readily makes herself seen. "And now they're trying to pin this on Asuma. He's Hokage, Iruka. Please, you can't believe that."
"I don't want to, Naruto, but that's the word being talked about. What am I to do?"
Naruto looks at his teacher, caretaker, brother, - what have you; and pleads with him to see reason. Iruka can't - he shouldn't - be so blind to go along with any sort of judgement against Asuma. In Konoha there weren't many things which worked, but Asuma tried to make up for what his people lacked. Of all the cold, Party-driven automatons, spouting propaganda like it was their job (because literally it was); Asuma was the lone, genuine bright spot who administered the Village with a semblance of a humanity. Sandaime cut his teeth in the war years, proved himself as one of the best despite being the son of a traitor, reclaiming his family's honor. When his predecessors Hashirama and Tobirama passed, none questioned who was more qualified to take up their mantle.
And despite Naruto's penchant for being a pain in the ass, Asuma ever treated him with respect. Not as a foreigern, not as somebody different, but as a citizen of the Hidden Leaf Village. The man was good, decent, and deserved better than most get in this Democratic People's Republic. Least of which incrimination.
Iruka agreed.
But his unwavering devotion to the State, to The People, and to The Noble One, amounted to more than the love of a friend.
"Naruto, 'one for the many, many for all'. Those are our words, what we believe in here... Asuma knows them as well as any. He knows sometimes for the greater good sacrifices needs be made."
Naruto didn't want to hear a lecture from Iruka.
Not now.
Gripping the cold, steel sides of his walker, the gets up from the stone bench. He struggles to find his balance, fighting against his body's weakness. Tired muscles and aching bones want him to go back inside, hide away from the cold bite of winter air; wouldn't make any difference if he did go back inside, though. Every furnace was quarried off into zones, and in his wing the heat was circulating elsewhere.
Iruka grabs at the walker, trying to get Naruto to sit, wait, listen to him for once. Naruto shrugs him off. "I don't need your help," he snaps. But Iruka doesn't let go.
"You know this isn't about Asuma." Iruka urged, voice low but urgent. "Use your brain - do you really think ROOT has any interest in you only to prove a report of what happened in Aokgahara?" His eyes flick towards Samui once more. Cold and detached, black leather gloved hands take down more notes without a hint of emotion. As those ice-blue eyes looked lazily back and forth between the dark green pines standing stalwartly in the garden. "What she's after - what they're all after - is the greater good. And they'll find it wherever it is. Don't let it be you."
"Get off me." Naruto tries to shrug off Iruka's grip, but the older man stands firm.
"Don't give them a reason to come after you." Iruka clenches his jaw, obvious note of fear shadowing him. Iruka had seen enough of danger in his years to recognize danger, and he knew they were walking a thing line. He'd always been a guardian for Naruto, and now he was afraid for the boy who'd become like a little brother for him. "Look," Iruka lowers his voice further. "You're right: Asuma is the Hokage. And you're a genin with a track record of disciplinary issues. It won't take much to bypass him, and come after you. These people won't hesitate to sacrifice anyone they think is expendable."
Truth wasn't expendable.
Throughout his time spent here, he and his classmates were regaled on what the "greater good" looked like. A "free" world run by the masses. The rights of every individual protectected against the weight of oligarchic predators. A world where heroes were championed, revered, but never questioned. Those ideals felt so unbearably alien to him now. The Will of Fire - juritsu - rings hollow. It feels more a cruel joke in the face of loss and betrayal.
It was a pain Iruka realized, too.
Naruto sees the scar across his friend's face bend with concern; Iruka knows the thin ice they walked upon. Was as unsteady as these primly maintained gravel paths. Iruka tracked along it with a dutiful grace, however. His uniform was as proper as Sakura's was; high red cleaned bright, medals showing his rank, a great coat to ward off December. And like Sakura, Iruka played his part well within the machine. As he walked Naruto back to his room, questions about what his shadow clone came up. Naturally, though. Unforced and convenient.
Naruto wanted to tell him.
Hell, he wanted to tell everyone the truth.
But he couldn't, lest a bigger target be put on his back.
Which was something Mizuki clearly warned him about.
"I don't have a lot of time, so I'll be quick. Have had this messed up feeling since the forest I'm being watched." Mizuki said to him as he snuck into his room late that night; Tsubaki stood watch by the door, for Mizuki also managed to pick up a tail, too.
"And you thought it smart to come see me while I'm like 'this'," The jangle of the handcuff brings Mizuki's attention back towards Naruto; Samui made it clear Comrade Uzumaki was to be confined to his room. For recovery and safety, she said poignantly. "I'm a sitting duck here."
Mizuki's eyes narrow. "I saved your life." The jonin says annoyedly.
"Yeah, thanks, real safe," Naruto snorts.
"Better here than out there - entire Village is crawling with ROOT. Them and the 5th Motorized. All from Sendai. Cut off roads in and out of Konoha, making it impossible for anyone to get in or out. Official word says its 'protection', but anyone with a brain can see it for what it really is: a siege. And they aint leaving till they get what they want."
"Which is...?"
"Whaddaya think? The scroll...The scroll Bridge Builder wants us to steal...The scroll you need to figure where the hell it's being kept so we can get it down South and stop a nationwide crisis - Jesus, you serious right now?" The moonlight shines through the hospital room's window and casts a shadow on Mizuki. Yet, doesn't hide how tired and haggard he looks. Much as he did when they were down in the Akatsuki tunnels. Naruto thinks to offer him a bit of his uneaten dinner - a few beef sticks dipped in teriyaki and sea-weed wrap with nuts and rice. Mizuki denies the offer. "Chikuma Koshiro is acting Director with Tenzen gone, and little shit's wasted no time: he's already signed off the order for you and your pals to be sent to the US Army Base. Under heavy supervision - Their people, not ours."
They had to, Mizuki says to Naruto.
"Politics."
The Expeditionary Force was still green lit. A goodwill gesture, as it were. Talks with the Southern government chilled with Danzo's death; DPRJ representatives tried to keep the man's status vague as long as they could. "His condition is critical, yet stable", they said. "We've yet to see any improvement to his condition". "We're afraid you have the wrong number - please hang up and try again." When it was obvious the truth couldn't hide any longer, though, a statement made by the Politburo, with The Noble One's backing, was secreted through cables running directly to Prime Minister Madoka's office in Tokyo.
The North doubled down: they will uphold their end of the bargain.
Manpower for the immediate suspension of the American blockade.
In turn they will "lessen" travel restriction across the parallel, decommission five bases along the southernmost sector of The Wall, and open further avenues for communication and policy-making in regards to the Tokyo Games the following year.
"More than a few Tojo's -" the colloquial term Northerners use to refer to southern hawks "- weren't happy with the deal. Obviously, some advocated a more 'direct' action. But with the attack on Ginza being likewise treated as an 'incident', everyone's so far playing nice. In spite of the efforts of our best propagandists, obvious the South wants to normalize relations quickly. With the caveat of continued support from Uncle Sam; Ikkyu Madoka is one of those policy makers who wants the pleasure of wiping his ass, without having his hand smell like shit afterwards."
Naruto sits up in his lumpy, malformed hospital bed; arelic which has seen better days, and those better days were probably twenty years ago. Wriggling his toes underneath the worn, think blankets, trying to draw warmth toward his chilly extremities as the cold December air seeped through the concrete walls, the drab brown stucco, the green tiled floors which did everything but stay warm as pipes tinted and popped underneath them. Irritation bubbles up as the pieces unfold, and he considers Mizuki intensely.
The quiet, still air of Naruto's own little hospital ward felt very vacant with just them two here. Three, if one were too consider Tsubaki keeping guard. Made the space in between them all too wide and inviting for untrustworthy ears and eyes. Comrade Samui could've bugged the room. Maybe one of Aburame's bugs was indeed in the room. A small shiver goes up his spine that had nothing to do with the cold.
"Whoever planned the attack wants us separated from Konoha...ROOT. Chikuma Koshiro - whoever the fuck he is. It's...him? He's the one behind this?" Naruto starts slowly, playing it out as the unease creeps into his mind. "He uses the confusion to impose martial law, gets us out of the Village and under ROOT's watch, while he gets free rein to do whatever he wants. Only ones left to defend the place are young kids and old papa-sans."
"Nahhhh...no one here will fit a finger." Mizuki's replied, shaking his head. "Koshiro's good, but he's guard dog; not much use for anything but chaining him to a stump so he can bark his balls off. Clear, someone else is pulling something fucky around here. Money was on Tenzen, before he went all Sumidagawa on us."
"So why don't we just tell Asuma what's going on and he can report it to someone higher up." Before Naruto could say anything else Mizuki starts laughing.
"Oh yeah, THAT will go over well. S'cuse me, Sarutobi-sama, don't mean to be a bother. I've a sneaking suspicion some nefarious characters are up to no good, have infiltrated the State's premier intelligence agency, and has conspired against our government to ferment a possible snatch and seizure of our biological weapons i.e. the children. To facilitate further division in our land, and hoping to plunge it once more into a no-holds barred, winner-take-all, civil war. To what end? I don't know. I just go off of whatever the shady smuggler dude I've been helping track contraband into our country for over ten years says."
"...Yeah, see. There ya go; couldn't have said it better myself"
"Here's the problem with that line of thought, kid." The plastic chair under Mizuki creaks as he leans forward. "First, requires a lot of trust in upper management to do the right thing. Do you trust they'll do the right thing? Yeah, nope. Second, that demands one of us tell Asuma right off the bat what we're up to. Not good for business; Asuma is still a servant for the State, remember. Plus, sure he wouldn't like we've been running a smuggling ring that's drawn considerable heat on him. Which brings me to my third point: he's already a marked man. This whole situations stinks of 'two birds, one stone'. Asuma is one of those birds. Granted, a very big bird. But ROOT's an equally big stone. It'll cause a goddamn bloody mess if one of them hits the other. VERY not good for business. Person behind this, though, is probably banking on that happening."
Naruto pulls his wool sweater higher up to his chin, trying hard to not let his teeth chatter when he speaks. "Then if the scroll is so important, why doesn't Asuma just hand it over and be done with it."
"Exactly, which makes us getting the scroll before he decides to all the more imperative."
"Wouldn't that end badly once they find what they're looking for isn't here?" Naruto asks, but Mizuki play it off.
"Not necessarily - Asuma is the strongest shinobi of our generatio. Koshiro and ROOT are playing it safe is because they won't risk going to war knowing what he's capable of. And he won't touch them, either, because he's not gonna risk putting Konoha in a fight they can't win."
"What makes you so sure they can't win?" For what it was worth, Konoha was Naruto's home; he didn't take kindly to it being thought of as some sheep keeling over at the first sign of trouble. Folk here wouldn't let Sapporo walk all over them, or Asuma, either.
Mizuki didn't share the feeling.
Logistics, provisioning, lack of fighters, against the full weight of the DPRJ machine. "Besides," He goes, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small tube from his pocket. "Half the people here are split whether it's Asuma they like more than staying loyal to Nosaka. You talked with Iruka - I saw. How well did that go? Hold out your hand for me. No! Not the one with handcuff, you jackass."
Taking Naruto's right in his rough fingers, Mizuki flips it over palm up to shine a purplish glow over it. As the blacklight shines its garish light over his scan, a slew of numbers appear in bright green: 9-31-8-106-7-207-15. Naruto stares at them confused. Terrific, he thinks; no clue as to what any of them mean. Memory of Bridge Builder pressing the remembrance scroll into his hand was another aspect of his nightmares he couldn't put away. If Mizuki hadn't decided to pump his chest, maybe he could've known more.
"Calm your tits. These numbers are for quartered off sections of ANBU records in the Library. My clearance there has always been dicey, and it'll be worse off now. But you got a knack for getting in and out of problems pretty handily. Here-"
Naruto was unsure of the prospect of taking all the risk - again - while Mizuki gets the luxury of standing idly by. The man assures him he's going to do everything in his power to make sure all eyes won't be looking towards Naruto, but anywhere else where smoke could come. The scroll he lays out on the bed is a crude map of Konoha, hastily made in brushed ink and quick lines. Tree Leaf, the Heroes Mount, the Ninja Academy, the Library, and even the outskirts of the Forest of Death are present. But what startles him is when Mizuki performs the ox sign with his hands.
Small ink blots begin to move about the Village, names apparent as they hover back and forth. Naruto sees Mizuki's name, and Tsubaki's, shown clearly on the paper. Naruto's only ever heard of shinigami maps, their use being highly relegated to members of the upper echelon of ninja ranks. A or S-tier shinobi were the only ones allowed to utilize such tools, and after were forced to destroy them soon as the assignment was completed.
"In order for one of these things to work, you need to get a bit of the person's blood sealed in this part of the scroll here," Mizuki points to a small square off to the bottom right edge. "Once you obtain it, you'll be able to keep track of them wherever they are. It'll help keep your friends close, and know how close your enemies are to you. Use it as you see fit." Mizuki nods, bursting off Naruto's questioning look.
Taking off his bandana, Mizuki goes over to a medicinal cabinet kept near a water basin in the room. A bottle of hydrochloric acid is produced, to which he covers the rag in totally. Asking if Naruto had remembered all of the numbers, he proceeds to scrub when Naruto nods. He's as rough as needs be to clear off any residue from the remembrance chakra ink. By the time he's finished, another pass of the blue light reveals little trace.
Timely, as a knock on the door causes him to almost jump out of his uniform; again, Naruto sees the lankness of his pale hair, the sunken darkness to him due to no sleep, all the trappings of a man caught in the throes of...something.
Very much had the same look of Sasuke, who'd finally decided to make an appearance.
It was around the third session of grueling physical therapy - Sakura was there providing Naruto the assist. She worked tirelessly to help him regain his strength; through all the deep tissue massages, chakra therapy sessions, painful hours of muscle regeneration treatments. Sasuke came along for the ride, but he was drawn in to himself. More than usual. He was paler, sicker, and more off-putting. Even if Naruto was a tragic thing, his breathing a complete mess, where performing ant crawls - a lesson of chakra control even the simplest genin can do - was taxing; Naruto still looked a helluva lot better than the Uchiha.
Silence was never the issue with Sasuke - that Naruto and Sakura had gotten used to. It was when it wasn't tinged with a sense of arrogance which made Naruto worry. He'd mentioned as much to Sakura, who'd only remarked with a soft, aloof smile. She tells him "not to worry about Sasuke-kun": he'd fought off three ROOT agents singlehanded to get to Ino, he's told. He saved her - like he always does, and then stood watch over Naruto for a whole night till the ANBU team came for evacuation. Sasuke opted to stay behind to cover the retreat; Sakura said he wouldn't allow anyone else to do so. Maybe because he didn't trust them to handle the responsibility, or maybe he simply wanted to be alone.
Naruto knew his friend to be careful, sure, and confident. Yet the person sitting on the other side of their sad little cafeteria table looked anything but. As Naruto had pointed out earlier, Sasuke looked too fragile to try and play anything off. Preoccupied in the darker recesses of his mind - alls you needed was to look into his eyes and know all the wheels were spinning. But whereas before there was a calculated fury in them, a Ragge which honed him down to a diamond ice-pick, now he moved through the world like a scared cat jumping at every noise.
"Hey," Naruto finally said, mouth full of hard-packed spiced chicken ramen, noodles comically dangling from his mouth as he finished a sixth bowl; the meager helpings of soldier pills and oatmeal were a damned thing to stomach, but amazingly Naruto was allowed to break into the old army rations packs and uncover some dried ramen. Dr. Kawada and Tsubaki signed off on it. "What's up with you, Why aint you eating?"
"Hm? Oh...Food, right. Sorry..." Sasuke said absently, barely acknowledging him.
"What are you saying sorry for, man? C'mon. Listen, if it's about what happened in the Forest, I forgot pretty much anything that was said between us. I remember you being an ass, but that's nothing new."
A lie.
Another one Comrade Samui would be sure to note down if she were here.
Naruto came to know a little bit more of what went down between Team 7 in Aokigahara, about Sasuke's penchant for wanting to be the best at the expense of everyone. Of then blaming others for not holding up to HIS standards. While at the same time having Sakura sneak out medicine to help him with his own pain. Typical douche behavior, and a problem of one possessing "main-character" syndrome; Sasuke ever believed himself the star - whether he wanted to be or not. Others who dragged him down were not only annoying to him, but potentially dangerous. Part of his ANBU training instilled that in him. With the other part of just being, well, Sasuke.
Was Ino in real danger? Depends, if one believed Naruto's interaction with Shino Aburame, ROOT agent #88912, then yes. "These guys were psychos and needed to be dealt with." He tells Sasuke. "WE did the right thing going after her. Meh, well technically only you. But you get it."
"It was a mistake for us being there... I shouldn't have gone in alone."
The late day sun shone through the cave's systems entrance and gave its last rays to the village of Konoha. The caf's windows faced outward and sparkles with orange and yellow light. It revealed more about Sasuke than Naruto typically caught: the slight cleft in Sasuke's nose courtesy of an injury when they were kids - gave his face a thinner profile than usual. Cuts and scrapes normally hidden with a scowl are now laid bare. Naruto was taken aback by how many there were.
"You saved the day. As usual. Because you're Uchiha Sasuke. Second Comrade of the Ansui Division of ANBU, and the bestest butt plug a guy like me could ever have. Nothing for you to say was a mistake, other than expecting me to shut up and listen to you." Naruto says.
Sasuke smiles. Halfheartedly, but it breaks through the veneer of his false solitude. "No," he goes. "I could've been better. Should've. The way I acted, it...It wasn't right."
"Hey, jeez, c'mon. Better? Way Ino's been telling it, you mopped the floor with those guys?"
"She was out cold when I got to her."
"Huh, really? Meh, oh well. Who says truth should get in the way of a good story."
"Truth...tch." The word slips from Sasuke's lips like the malformed, twisted thing it's become.
For a brief moment, the old Sasuke came back; a flicker of the vicious, angry, confident boy Naruto knew so well, and loved to best. He was there, somewhere, hidden behind the unasked question Naruto was reluctant to share: what happened while I was out? How did you manage to handle three ROOT operatives, when I was nearly done in by one? Usually, Sasuke would use that a badge of pride. Dangling it in front of Naruto to say "see, this is how it's supposed to be done, dobe."
But not this time.
This time Sasuke looks out into the shining blaze of a day's final moments, content just to sit in a sobering silence. Until, suddenly, he asks Naruto a question.
"Anything strange happen while you were in the Forest? Did the Aburame say anything, did you feel anything?"
Naruto hesitates; a small, passing thing, but it being the only opening Sasuke needed. In a dash to recover, Naruto plays it off. More out of habit, than truly wanting to hide from Sasuke. "Not really," he says. "Apart from hating the place the same as I did when we were kids." Truthfully, Naruto goes, he was more invested running for his life. And getting towards Mikoshi and Matsuri - who thankfully were also recovering and on the mend. Far as all else, nothing more needed to be said other than he was grateful to be out of there.
Which was the truth.
Not all of it, but Naruto relented saying more simply because he'd rather forget. it killed him to know what happened at teh Watchtower and they were unable to do anything. It racked his brain that all the thoughts caught in the fever-dream between his real self and his clone, now became a living nightmare every night he'd spent in in Tree Leaf. Alls he wanted was to go back to his little dorm room in the genin quarters, pop in one of the contraband records illegal to possess, and flush all the bad shit away.
Shino's face - or what had been left of it - still came to him. The grotesque parasite crawling forth from the remains of a bloody mess speaking to him before Mizuki came and blew it away. You are like me, the words ingrained themselves into his brain, burrowing like one of Shino's insects. You are a parasite. Fuck, if only Mizuki acted faster. Would've spared Naruto this damning thought process. Only thing which kept him going was Bridge Builder"'s job - there was a tangible effect Naruto could have. To help people, to save his friends. Including, Sasuke. Who very much looked to need saving.
"How strong do you think I really am, Naruto?" Sasuke asks.
The ask hangs between their divide for a moment; Naruto was never the "mature" one for these kinds of talks. And normally, Sasuke was never one to hear him, whenever they did come about. So he shrugs, harrumphs, grabs a seventh bowl of the decade old ramen, and tells his friend what Iruka had one semi-sober night not long ago. "We're gonna make mistakes and trip all over ourselves. That's a given," Naruto says; Sasuke inclines his head, appearing to listen. "Being strong doesn't mean 'never' falling, Sasuke. Getting back up is all that matters. To me, anyways. And for a cause we believe in - no what they tell us."
Sasuke gripped his chopsticks so hard his knuckles turn white, the wood almost snaps, as he digs their points into the palm of his hand. A small bead of blood is drawn, and Naruto jumps telling his friend to quit it. Uncharacteristically, again, Sasuke apologizes; normally, Naruto would have the moment enshrined. But he knew something ate away at his friend After that a heavy silence fell between them. Naruto moved on to talk of anything else, but the move was awkward and uncanny; Sasuke seemed willing enough, but soon as he helped walk Naruto back to his room, his "see ya later" didn't leave Naruto off on a good step.
And as the next couple of days passed, with Naruto slowly regaining his strength, though the dreams still persisting; on Dr. Kawada's orders and a knowing wink, Naruto was granted his leave. Felt good to have the handcuffs off him, even if Samui relegated the boy to more psyche evaluations in the future. The overbearing woman said little, but also a mouthful as she said his "monitoring" was far from over. Weekly progress reports from all students who'd partaken in the Forest will be evaluated - per their orders for squad arrangement. "Task Force recommendations - your reporting will be assessed by Comrade Director Chikuma. From there, your assignments will soon follow. Congratulations, Comrade Uzumaki: your duty awaits."
She bounces away as protocol demands, as her mechanical like precision instilled by Sapporo training demanded. As much as Naruto admitted inwardly she was nice to look at walking away, his twisting stomach lurched hearing her words, seeing her eyes, feeling the unspoken threat permeating off her. They weren't finished with him - them, and they will have their piece of meat before the end.
What that end was, he, Mizuki, and Bridge Builder knew. As unlikely a trio as can be expected. And they were meant to stop it lest a war be brought to their doorstep. By an unknown malignancy. Who can attack from everywhere and nowhere at once. The web of their strategy making Naruto sweat in frustration, feeling like the task was too great for just him to shoulder. No, he didn't doubt himself; Naruto never liked the idea of not following through. He'd given his word to protect his friends - not because Bridge Builder asked, but because it was what Comrade-Sensei Kakashi would do.
Which makes seeing him the way he was so much harder for Naruto and his squamates to bare.
Laying unconscious in the bed, their teacher looked broken but resilient. Bandaged up like King Tut, face obscured - as always - by the gauze protecting the burns and cuts which have now turned to a crusty brown, Kakashi still looked more the hero Naruto envisioned him to be. More the hero the Village needed right now. In his thoughts, he'd like to think he could tell Kakashi, who was always patient, pensive, and bided his time with his students. Where Iruka gave Naruto support, Kakashi gave he, Sakura and Sasuke guidance.
Trust and loyalty were the facets of this man's character. They ever were. And by the Noble One's ball hairs, did they all look to need him now.
"Yokosuka gave him the 'all clear' only yesterday." Sakura's voice is quiet, barely above a whisper. Afraid to wake him, even if she knows the unlikelihood of that happening. "His vitals were stabilized after surgery stopped his bleeding."
"When do you think he's gonna be okay?" Naruto asks, averting his eyes from the number of wires and IV bags hanging about him.
"I don't know - Yokosuka wasn't exactly clear about a lot of that."
"Because any doctor still around is NOT a good doctor. The fuck does Yokosuka know." Sasuke's acrimony seemed to return; a heartening development, even if it did little to alleviate Team 7's feeling of isolation.
Naruto swallowed hard looking at their fallen comrade, the implications hitting hard. Kakashi had always been there, even when being criminally late. Now, they needed to be there for him. Obvious, by the amount of ROOT and DPRJ armed elements carousing around Tree Leaf, the market square, Konoha in general. After gathering his things and heading "home", the dormitory apartments for the genin and chunin were essentially turned into armed encampments.
Comrade Morino was pleased.
"Better to instill discipline into you runts."
The armed guards posted at each of the entrances demanded respect, even if they'd done nothing to earn it. Naruto minded their Type 61 AKM rifles, an offshoot of the rudimentary, yet reliable AK series from the continent. Balanced on their shoulders straight at attention, Ssh helmets cocked off to one side with a debonaire flair, emblems of the gold wheat and red scythe emblazoned on their breasts. One of the guards looks to give Naruto a hard time at first; she asks him where he thinks he's going, to which he tersely responds with "in". She didn't like that. She asks if he wasn't a little old to going to the genin portion of the dorms. He doesn't, he says - respectfully, with a proper salute. Naruto responds with a, "about as old as I needs be, and about as young as you wish, Comrade Guardswoman."
"Oi, we got a joker here, huh?" The hoary soldier bristles at that, and Naruto thought he was going to be cuffed along his face if her friend didn't urge her to keep it together.
Walking through the bustling compound, of sit-shined boots running drills and genin standing at attention; many of them he recognized, Naruto huffed with annoyance now seeing the trouble everyone is going through. What he was bound to put up with. When he finally gets to his dorm, the sliding doors and the obvious posters of smiling politicians and Nosaka welcoming hime back, Naruto wants nothing more to hop on his bed and sleep.
Sleep away the pressure building inside him, all the armed guards now watching his every move, all the goings on in this last week. A week of remembrances, funerals, State funded radio messaging and television programming. While he was away in the hospital, it felt nice for a time; there he'd fashioned himself a nice little sanctuary from all the noise. It trickled in like the rivulets of a small stream, but never enough to drown Naruto. Yet, now he was going to be in the thick of it.
First thing Naruto does is find a place to hide his shinigami map; firs the thinks to tuck it away under his bed, next to the little green metallic box where all the unmentionables of Naruto's past collected dust. But he thought against it - from what he felt, Kushina was partly to blame for all this in the first place. Wether that made sense to him, didn't matter: anger doesn't need a reason, only an outlet. To hell with what Bridge Builder felt, 'bad hand' or not, this all felt like another instance of his mother trying to impose herself on his life.
And so Naruto takes the map and throws it in the case of a record he means to listen to. This was a good one, Naruto knows. Plucked off the top shelf from one of his runs, he places the headphones on his head, and the sultry, sweet tunes of the piano kicks off. The record spins about smoothly, and the man's voice hits Naruto hard. Notes of a bluesy midnight mood speaking so true, evincing the realities of living in a world of jokers and thieves.
It's a mean, old world to be living alone, indeed, Naruto thinks, resting his head back on the soft pillow.
Every fiber of his being craved to shutdown, but even the relief of sleep was marred. He closes his eyes, but is afraid the black scenes will play out again. Blaring alarms, figures rushing to escape, voices calling out in desperation. These thoughts and feelings overwhelmed him now, as they did during his time at Tree Leaf. They never went away, how could they? The million little pieces on this floor were all his, and once his clone was shocked back into him, it was up to Naruto to ensure nothing was left behind.
He needed to be whole, he needed to be ready. To prevent a war before it could ignite, to save his friends from people like Chikuma Koshiro, and all the rest of ROOT. From Sapporo, too. And the rest of the State which felt more and more to be teetering on the brink. And Konoha - the heart of his life - was dead center of the target. The village needed him to do the right thing. Even if it didn't ever really want him, nor knew what the right thing was. For how could a place where men like Aburame Shino are created, good folk like Sarutobo Asuma are treated as enemies, everything and everyone had a game to play - how could a place like this be "right"?
His eyelids flutter, his breathing evens out, as music drifts him softly away. A voice sings out to him. Distant, but yet so close...
"приди и найди меня..."
"楽しみにしていてください..."
"Find me..." It urged, the rumble echoing in the recesses of the hallway.
"Truth is what we believe..." A whisper from another place, another time goes.
"Зачем позволять правде портить хорошую историю..."
He stands in the midst of the blown out laboratory, lab coat drenched and dragging across the floor, flickering lights painting the walls in eerie shadows. An inexplicable pulls calls him forward, beckoning him to a the remnants of a door at the far end of the hall. Blood trickles down a cut on his forehead. Voices echo all around him, panicked, stricken, and filled with fear. The source of the commotion urging him onward, guiding up to pull on the blown out steel frame of the blast door.
With a surge of determination, he grips the handles.
He is weak, but determination overwhelms him: he needs to get the door open, he has to get inside to see if she was all right. Every ounce of his strength heaved the door open slowly, painfully, just enough to let a sliver of bright light to seep through. It illuminates the ward behind him, and burned out husks at their desks, frozen in place as they were obliterated. By some miracle he was alive, able to survive by fate's grim humor.
He'd warned Frau Doktor it was too soon, told everyone the subject wasn't ready - she hadn't fully recovered, and her being was too far at ease. Life became normalized for her here, he said. "Something has taken her attention elsewhere. Her edges have been shorn down. This is not good - we cannot proceed."
But Frau Doktor would not listen, could not listen; the Allied advancements had given them no reprieve, no opportunity. It had to be done now, or never at all...
Naruto's grip is tight against the door, gritting his teeth, and tearing his skin; there is someone alive on the other side. Thank the gods, he thought exasperatedly. She was alive, she had to be alive.
"続けて...ne t'arrête pas"
Once more, Naruto finds the auburn haired man watching him. Standing off to the side, watching with those discerning eyes, waiting to see what's going to happen. Again, he doesn't offer to help no matter how many times Naruto pleads. All he does is sit, and stare, and simply brings his hand up to his chin; he's merely here as a bystander, and the responsibility falls squarely onto Naruto's shoulders.
He doesn't know if he's strong enough, he thinks. It wasn't in him to be this person. You were selfish from the moment you were brought to the village, doing nothing if not for your own benefit...you smuggle a few packs of cigarettes, cheap booze, a few records, and a bottle of ibuprofen across The Wall, and you think that helps...
That was who he was, apparently. "That" version of Naruto was what everyone in the Village looked at and understood. But, selfishness wasn't a relative thing in this world, the world they made. Rules here were unfair, and were meant to hide the lack of what they possessed: decency, common sense, and humility. Yes, Naruto can be arrogant. But only because they made him resent what the alternative they wanted him to be.
He wasn't a martyr for the Revolution...
He wasn't going to be a tool to uphold the status quo of a backwards and stunted mindset...
He wasn't going to be anybody's "chojin", least this amber eyed stranger lurking in the corner.
Naruto slams the cell door shut, and the jolt of it causes him to wake.
Again, he finds himself drenched in sweat; his forehead, chest, and neath his armpits all feel like he'd suffered through yet another fever. The wire of his headphones is tangled about him, as record spins silently on its player. No more music is played, as the album's reached its end. Naruto looks up to see he's standing by his door, hand trembling upon its handle. He's wary of what could be on the other side. More so now, as he hears a slight knocking against it.
The numbers flash in his mind once more - 0413479. Naruto hesitates, recalling the presence of the amber-eyed stranger whose intentions remained shrouded. The only thing which gives him heart is the familiarity of his room, the solid feel of this world around him, reminding Naruto this was the reality. He inhales deeply, sucking down whatever courage he can muster. With a quick tug, the door opens and his heart pounds.
But suddenly, relief washes over him.
As he steps into the hallways, there is no-one. Nothing save for the corridor which is shrouded in dancing candlelight. Flames cast shadows along the yellow papered screens and their cherry wood frames. His instincts kick in telling him to cautious, remain vigilant; and he glances down to see a small scroll laid at his feet. Held together by a bright red ribbon, he notices his name written upon it in familiar script.
Naruto exhales.
He quickly bends over to grab the message, tucks it away inside his room, and makes sure to carefully close the door behind. It barely makes a sound; with the increased personnel around the building, no telling how many more eyes are lurking about. Any off-putting twitch or noise may draw untoward attention. And Naruto knew a message from Asuma, considering the circumstances both found themselves in, was a thing Comrade Samui would love to know.
Though, he'd die before telling her anything.
He already technically did once before, what else could they possibly threaten him with?