Recommended Story: 'Father to a Blond Hyuuga' by Dreaded Rasengan
Chapter Twelve
Amachi was in his lab on his own private island looking at a computer screen telling him a mile's worth of data lines comprehensible only to him, when he heard the door to his lab open. Turning around, the balding scientist saw Isaribi walk in. "About time you showed up. Where were you last night?"
"I was observing potential new subjects for you, as well as recuperating from some injuries I acquired." The bandaged girl answered.
"Did you bring them to me?" Amachi asked.
"I was not able to. These ones were too smart to catch off-guard."
"Looks like you're slipping Isaribi."
The diver frowned. "It's like fishing. Sometimes you reel them in, sometimes they get away from you. Doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. Especially since people are harder to catch than fish."
"Well you better not lose your touch girl. I need my test subjects to complete my work, and you know what that means for you."
Isaribi looked conflicted. "Excuse me Amachi-sama, but when I was cleaning myself a while ago, I noticed something unusual." She saw she had his attention. "The redding around my scales, I always thought that was just irritation, but last night I wondered if it was actually the markings of a skin graft. Is my transformation a mere unexpected side effect, or something you deliberately caused?"
"What makes you think that? You know what I told you." Amachi replied.
"Yes, but when I think about it, it doesn't match the evidence." Isaribi said, but stopped when the long-nosed doctor stood up looking offended.
"You dare question me girl? I'm the only reason you're even alive right now. Most people would have left you to suffer or bled your wallet dry after treating you. I only asked one thing and now you're having a crisis of conscience and daring to question what I do? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cast you out right now and make you spend the rest of your life alone and bandaged up like a mummy?"
Isaribi lightly frowned. "You wouldn't. I know too much. You'll kill me before you'll risk me telling anyone about you."
Amachi smirked victoriously. "How right you are. Like it or not girl, your life is completely in my hands and so is your chance of regaining your humanity. So do as you're told and bring me some test subjects if you don't want to remain a fish-face forever." He waited for the purple-haired girl to move, but she did not. "I said go."
"You're making one big mistake Doc."
"Oh, and what's that?"
Isaribi was immediately covered with smoke, and Ayame appeared in her place. "You obviously weren't too prepared for the chance that the real Isaribi would already tell someone else about you."
'A henge? She found ninja here?' Amachi asked himself, worried he was in trouble. Amachi was not much of a fighter, so he backed up and immediately hit an emergency silent alarm. In no time, his assigned guards from his benefactor would be here to take down this kunoichi.
Ayame saw this action and smirked. "Oh, don't think you're getting out of this that easily. I never said I came here alone."
"It doesn't matter. This place isn't defenseless and neither am I." Amachi declared.
"Then why are you so nervous?" Ayame asked, her favorite dagger in hand to intimidate him.
Amachi glared and made his hand hover above a large dark blue button. "I'd rather not use this indoors, but you leave me little choice."
Elsewhere in the lab, the others had split into two groups. Kushina, Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and Isaribi went to the left wing while Tsunade, Shizune, Hinata, Shino, and Tenten went to the right wing. Moegi and Tonton remained at the hotel watched over by Naruto's clones. The young girl didn't like it, but she had nothing to contribute so she had to sit this one out. Isaribi at least knew the layout of the building.
In the left wing, the primary research area, Isaribi was leading them to where Amachi kept most of his equipment and notes. This was also the same place she was treated, but she was expected to provide her own lodgings, usually in a lean-to by the shore on the main part of Sea Country. And because of her appearance and anti-social behavior, it usually wasn't in the best condition thanks to bullies and vandals picking on an easy target.
'What if this is wrong? What if they're ruining my only chance to be normal again?' Isaribi asked herself, feeling a pang of guilt and uncertainty. "It's here, this is where Amachi-sama keeps most of his stuff." She told the others when they stopped in front of a closed door.
"Open the door to guarantee there are no traps." Kushina told her.
"You think I'd lead you to a set-up?" Isaribi asked.
"You did say you intended to trick us into coming here so we could be used by this guy. For all I know you still are. Now open the door and prove me wrong." Kushina demanded.
The bandaged girl opened it and safely walked inside, showing there were no traps here. With caution, the rest went inside, and saw a laboratory filled with computers, water-filled tanks and tubes, surgical tables, and various equipment to experiment with. It was like something right out of a movie. Onlt thing missing was a tormented scream in the background.
"Was this where you were treated?" Sakura asked. Isaribi nodded. "What all was done to you?"
"I was unconscious for most of it, but when I woke up my skin was scaly."
"Get away from the door girl." Kushina ordered.
"What?"
"I'm not stupid. You said this guy orders you to abduct people and bring them here for him to experiment on. For all basic purposes, you have done just that to us. I knew that going in. So until you proven otherwise, you are still a threat to us and I will not let my guard down around you." Kushina told her sternly.
Isaribi nodded and walked away from the door. "In that case, what do I have to do to earn your trust?"
Kushina opened her arms to indicate the machines behind her. "Start destroying everything."
The bandaged girl paled. "But... but if all of Amachi-sama's work is destroyed-"
"We can still cure you. He is not your only option." The redhead told her.
"Maybe, but according to you my only choices are him or you, and you did say your way would rid me of what humanity I have left. So forgive me if I'm not exactly eager to pick sides right way."
"Why don't we look thru the notes and research first, like we planned, and see if this guy even can do anything about it?" Sakura asked, trying to be the voice of reason.
Kushina smiled. "Good idea. Let's not pressure the young girl further and simply see what this doctor is really doing here."
With that everyone started looking thru Amachi's data, hoping to find anything they could use or understand.
In the right wing, the living quarters and docking area, Tsunade and the others were checking for any potential threats that needed to be intercepted. If this place had anything valuable in it, or was a secret site for human experimentation, then surely it was not unguarded, even if it was an ordinary lab. Scientists tended to be notoriously protective of their findings, dreading the chance a fellow researcher would steal their work and take the credit for it.
"My insects have just informed me that a silent alarm was triggered." Shino told them all.
"Crap, there goes our element of surprise. Okay team, be on extra alert. We're likely to be ambushed now." Tsunade said and everyone nodded.
"Byakugan." Hinata whispered, activating her doujutsu. "There are two men trying to sneak up on us, one from the front and one behind us. Neither are armed, but they both look like they're prepared for a fight. They look alike, but one's more muscular and wearing dark glasses like Shino while the other's just wearing normal glasses."
"Good, so now they lost their own element of surprise and their vision is vulnerable." Tsunade whispered in response. "Shizune, you and me will take the one behind us. Hinata, Tenten, you two take the one in front. Shino, use your insects to cover us both. The one in front is likely to be a distraction so the one behind can attack us." Everyone nodded and got into position.
Hinata got into her juuken stance and Tenten pulled out some of her unsealed kunai and trench knives, keeping her scrolls within immediate reach. Hinata's eyes told her the target was confidently yet quietly getting closer, looking unafraid but rather pleased to be able to fight. Shino had their backs, in case they needed his assistance first, but he was diverting his attention to the sannin and her student who hoped to overpower the supposed sneak attack.
"Kushina-sama, I think I found something." Sakura said as she stared at a computer screen, attracting all ears to her.
"Yes?" The aforementioned redhead responded.
She clicked on the file and a video popped up into view. The video showed an unconscious Isaribi strapped to a table with an IV hooked up to her. Coming into view was a man dressed as a doctor.
"Who's that?" Ino asked.
"Amachi-sama, the man who treated me." Isaribi answered.
"This is day seven of my work on this fortunate find of mine." Amachi said, clearly if documenting his progress. "Results are not coming as soon as I hoped, but I strongly suspect the fact that she has the chakra system of a civilian is to blame for this. Since Orochimaru-sama will not provide me with ninja subjects anymore I must take what I can get."
"This guy works for Orochimaru?" Naruto asked, horrified.
"Fortunately, after much trial and error from the past subjects, I have high hopes that the many tests done on this subject will have a accumulated effect after a few more. Making the change from human to sea monster may work best gradually rather than instantly. I suspect only one, two at the most, further treatments will be needed to give the girl the ability to become my underwater weapon."
All eyes were on Isaribi for a moment, looking at her with shock, making her feel uncomfortable and singled out. Amachi's voice after a cut-away redrew their attention to the screen.
"Day nine, and results are mixed. As expected, the gradual process was the correct procedure and I have succeeded in transforming the girl into an aquatic creature that will help me in dominating the local area and allow Orochimaru-sama to have alternative weapons too. For simplicity's sake I have dubbed this aquatic form as 'Kaima'."
The screen showed Isaribi being injected with something and her body quickly transforms into a humanoid fish being that could have come straight from a low budget rip-off of The Creature From the Black Lagoon. The change lasted only a dozen seconds and then she reverted back to normal.
"Do you really do that?" Ino asked, but Amachi continued before Isaribi could answer.
"Unfortunately there is a downside to the current result. While the kaima body shows signs of a complete transformation, internal as well as external, it does not hold for long. Maybe the body rejects the unnatural metamorphosis like an improper donated organ, or the subject's limited chakra compacity cannot support it for long. I will have to find a way to make her chakra coils expand more, but I suspect there is a way to trick the body into thinking the change is normal. Maybe appropriate skin grafts will make the transformation last longer and be easier to accomplish in a real-life scenario."
The screen went blank after that, saying it continued on a separate file, and now Isaribi looked shocked. "It... it wasn't an accident? He wanted me to become this... this thing?"
"In that case I think it's safe to say you've got little luck putting your faith in this guy." Kushina told her.
"Can we save her?" Sakura asked.
"If she doesn't want to try my way, Tsunade could possibly come up with a way to reverse what was done to her if we find a complete list of what was used. However, that's only in theory. I can't promise anything yet." Kushina answered.
"We should go get her then." Naruto said.
Kushina nodded, but looked briefly alerted by a radio receiver on her ear. "What is it?" She listened to the transmission. "Gotcha. We'll be there shortly."
"What's wrong?" Naruto and Sakura asked.
"Ayame needs our help. We'll have to get back to this afterwards."
As expected, the one Hinata and Tenten were prepared for appeared first, jumping out of the shadows like a jungle cat upon a helpless deer. However, these kunoichi were hardly helpless.
"He's unarmed so be prepared for a jutsu or taijutsu move." Hinata whispered to the weapon thrower.
The man in question, who was in truth Akado Yoroi one of Orochimaru's weaker henchmen, rushed into view, his right arm stretched out as if to grab them. Hinata's byakugan told her that he had some of his chakra gathered in his palm, meaning it would be bad in he touched either of them. So she stepped aside, but Tenten's reflexes made her throw a kunai and pierce his outstretched palm.
Akado screamed and stopped, clutching his wounded hand. This gave Hinata the opportunity to sneak in and hit his tenketsu as fast as she could. It only took half a minute, but it was thirty seconds this guy couldn't defend himself during, and he collapsed when it was over. Hinata then deactivated her doujutsu.
"Just to be safe..." Tenten said before taking her used kunai back, allowing his hand to bleed, and stabbing his feet with it too in the unprotected parts. "There, now he'll have a hard time catching up after we leave."
After the first guy screamed the second guy, Misumi Tsurugi, decided to jump in, but Tsunade was ready for him and fired a punch right at his face. His nose could be heard breaking and he went flying back, leaving a crater on the wall he collided with.
"Is it just me or were they rather feeble?" Shizune asked.
"I suspect they would have been worse had I not sent my insects after them before they attacked." Shino said.
"Even so, they either weren't trained to be fighters, or don't take their training seriously. Otherwise this shouldn't be so easy." Shizune added.
Tsunade shrugged. "An easy win is still a win."
"What should we-?" Hinata asked, but was cut off when she felt a hand grab her leg. "Let go!" She shrieked as she looked down, seeing Akado was the one holding her. She struggled to kick free, but she couldn't move well since this henchman was draining her chakra thru his hand. 'Wait, this is exactly like that guy in the chuunin exams. Could he be the same person?'
Reacting quickly, Tenten pulled out another kunai and drove it into the man's neck, making him lose his grip and allowing Hinata to get out of his range. He made a last-ditch effort to grab onto Tenten and succeeded in grabbing her arm, but a kick to drive the kunai deeper into his neck made him stop doing anything further.
"You two okay?" Tsunade asked.
"I feel a little more tired than I was before, but not so much I'm going to stop." Tenten answered.
"Same here." Hinata added.
"Good. Let's check this other guy out too for any hidden surprises."
Tsunade cautiously approached Misumi. 'Judging by the way his limbs are angled, he took one hell of a hit. He shouldn't be able to stand up or lift an arm.' "He's no threat." She told the others.
"Oh I'm not am I?" The downed guy said, surprising them all. With his arms still dislocated Misumi reached into his supply pouch and pulled out a small hand-held trigger. "Take this!"
Panels in the walls opened up and before anyone could move thick panes of glass zipped out trapping the group in a caged-off section. Within the area extra smaller panels opened near the top of the hallway walls and seawater started to pour in like a faucet, a vent on the ceiling allowing air to escape. Judging from the speed of the water, they had less than a minute until all the air was gone.
'Too easy.' Tsunade said, rearing her fist. She struck the glass, but instead of shattering, it simply wobbled in place and her hand hurt like hell.
Misumi smiled. 'Nice try, but that's not glass. That's diamond, provided by Orochimsaru-sama's top kunoichi Guren. Cheaper than replacing all the glass Amachi-sama would break here.'
Amachi's work required him to experiment on all forms of dangerous sea life, often making them more aggressive and dangerous than they already were, often resulting in destroyed aquariums. So to make it easier Orochimaru had Guren create clear crystal containers and walls that would contain even Jaws on steroids. Even Tsunade's punch wasn't going to break this wall that easily.
Misumi smirked and used his chakra to get his dislocated joints back into place and reshape his nose. He couldn't see how Akado was doing, but he had no love for the guy even as teammates. He was just pleased to see people start to drown.
"Tsunade-sama..." Shizune nervously asked.
"I'll try again." The slug sannin said, getting ready to use her uninjured fist with more force behind it.
Ayame was breathing heavily. 'This guy sure came prepared.' The room they were in hadn't really been rigged with traps, but it did feature a trapdoor that would have dropped her into a shark tank. Ayame dodged that one by jumping to the ceiling and clinging to it. Even so, that shark actually wasn't the worst thing he had used. 'What the hell was that thing? It looked like some sort of... living water blob.'
Unfortunately, Amachi used that time to escape via a back door, and the so-called 'living water blob' followed him after she used a paper bomb to hurt it. She dropped down to the floor, trap door closed, after sending a distress signal out to the others over a radio. 'I'm tempted to go after him, but I really should wait for the others to get here first.'
She didn't have to wait long. "What's the situation?" Kushina asked as she appeared, looking ready to fight.
"The doctor's not a fighter but he's not completely unprepared either. Right now he's probably trying to set up another defense for this place. And he's got the most unusual summons I've ever seen. I don't even know what to call it."
"We can't let him get away. According to what we found, he's working for Orochimaru." Naruto told the ramen chef.
"Orochimaru? That worm?" Ayame confirmed.
Naruto nodded. "I think he's helping the snake bastard find ways to change people into monsters and Isaribi here is an innocent victim caught in the crossfire."
"We better go get him." Kushina said. "Naruto, Ayame, you two come with me. Sakura, Ino, be our back-up and keep Isaribi from being taken away or something."
Everyone nodded, but when Naruto, Ayame, and Kushina left the room to get outside, Sakura looked a bit forlorn. 'Once again the only thing I'm good for is support. After this, I'm going to ask Kushina-sama and Tsunade-sama if they can help me get stronger. Even Ayame-sempai could help me out. I want to fight with Naruto, not behind him.'
"Something wrong Forehead?" Ino asked, sensing her friend's unease.
"No, nothing at all Ino." Sakura shook her head.
"You like that boy, don't you?" Isaribi asked, believing Sakura's discomfort was worry for Naruto getting in danger.
"What?" Ino said, surprised.
Sakura sighed. "It's complicated. Yes I'm afraid for him, but I know he'll handle this. After all, Naruto's going to be hokage someday. He can't die, not today."
Ino was wide-eyed hearing this. "Sakura, did something happen between you and-?"
"Not now Ino. Maybe after this is all over, but now now." The pinkette told the platinum blonde, effectively ending the conversation.
"Who is this boy?" Isaribi curiously asked.
Sakura turned to her. "He's Naruto Uzumaki, the most unpredictable ninja in the world. And quite possibly one of the strongest and nicest you'll ever meet. He's strong enough to win where it really counts, and kind enough to not make everyone his enemy, even if they make him theirs. If there's one person you can count on to help you, it's him."
Isaribi was awed while Ino was confused. 'Yep, something definitely happened. Now I've got to know.'