Breakout

As a kid, Naruto had been a fan of a wide range of books.

Even after he had become a ninja, horror novels had been something that offered him a form of catharsis.

Sarutobi had told him that people tended to gravitate toward the morbid when times were tough, during wars for example. Maybe as a way to hear about something even more terrible than their actual lives.

Because they could simply put the books away. It gave them control.

Ever the teacher, he had then explained that there were, in a way, only three different types of horror stories and myths.

One was the kind that played on people's phobias. These were individual-specific, like fear of spiders… or ghosts. They could even be political, psychological… or societal. It was the fear of the unnatural, as well.

One example Sarutobi cited was The Last Village on Earth.

There was the second type. Revulsion. A ripped off leg being the only thing that remained of someone the story made you care about. The smell of a human burning alive.

My Time with Kujou had been pretty gross, and Naruto had thought that being a ninja, he didn't need to read about people being stuffed into wells. There were enough opportunities for trauma already.

Then there was the last one. Terror. Isolation, feeling trapped, or a simple lack of light. The unknown. The realization that something was very, very wrong, without being able to tell exactly how bad things were.

Sarutobi had just given him a book about modern politics with a wink.

It had been a fond memory, even though Naruto held conflicted feelings toward the old man by now.

Today, or rather tonight, Naruto found out true horror, something that combined all three factors, was not something he cared to ever experience again.

"I..no?"

This couldn't be.

There was a guard in the room, who stood entirely frozen, despite his training.

Naruto walked toward Ino's still body. From there, he could see that she was alive, at least.

He didn't bother trying to keep himself grounded, since he was feeling so distant from himself right now that he might as well not have been there at all.

Ino's face was pale, bruised purple, bloated and bloody. Her eyes were blank, staring without seeing.

His eyes went down. Her arm and leg tendons had been cut, and her fingers were broken. Likely so that she couldn't run… or use her jutsu. There were burn marks and black scabs on what skin he could see that was not already bruised. Her hair was still wet. Water torture, of course.

Her chakra was weak, he could now see it.

Weak, resigned, empty, helpless.

That's how he could read her emotions.

Her physical injuries were bad enough, career-ending for any ninja. Even if she had gotten out, she likely would never have been able to walk unassisted.

He had thought Konoha to be above this sort of torture, somehow. That they had enough experts on the human mind to afford it. But thinking about it, this also meant that the mental part… might have been even worse.

And despite himself, he had wanted to hold on to the delusion that Konoha was a different place than the other villages.

Not anymore. Not if this was the sort of things they did to their loyal ninja.

To see Ino, who had been one of the most headstrong people he had ever met, be so despondent, hopeless… Naruto stared.

What had they done to her?

This was her own village. Were they so willing to turn on their own?

And what for? He still couldn't tell. Ino had only been here for two days.

"Don't move a single inch." He called to the guard, stepping past him. The man didn't move.

He crouched next to Ino, who raised her head slowly, to look at him.

Her eyes looked vacant, but some of the usual lucidity returned.

"…Took you guys long enough to go for genjutsu." She muttered, half to herself.

"Ino. It's me."

Stupid. He might know her, but in the current circumstances, he might as well be a stranger to her.

"…Yeah, sure. I noticed." She blinked, trying to understand what was happening, likely.

"It's not a trap. I promise."

"…At this point, I don't care anymore. I have nothing to say to Danzō. Nothing he wants."

Danzō…? He knew the name from somewhere.

"I'm not working for him."

She groaned, not believing it. "Great. Free me, then."

The guard protested, starting to say something. Naruto's eyes shut him right up.

He broke her shackles, and removed the seals binding her. She looked at him with some surprise in her distrustful eyes.

"I'm not an imposter." He reassured her again.

"…An imposter would say the same thing, though. Could be a long-winded trap." She muttered, trying to move her legs. She winced when she realized she wouldn't be able to stand.

Naruto tried healing her, in the blunt and unrefined way that was the only way he knew.

She let him do it, her eyes wet and distrustful, and her breathing wheezy.

There were footsteps.

"That's as far as you go, tonight." Someone said.

Naruto turned around.

There were masked people in the room.

Men, women. Some tall, some small.

There was no way he'd be able to heal Ino with them here. Not that he was even sure he could do much in the first place. They needed to leave. To Umi. Unfortunately, the ANBU in the room didn't seem as though they were sold on the idea.

It was one of these moments where time seemed to slow down.

As though the very colors faded away, only to leave behind a startling clarity. The sort of moment he had seen in his dreams already, where you could name a before and an after.

It also felt as though someone were laughing.

Naruto's heart was beating. Too loudly.

The ANBU drew their blades, all of them flat instead of pointed.

"Out of my way." Naruto heard himself say, almost hissing.

The ANBU didn't move, and more rushed into the corridor.

"Get out. Of my way." He repeated, his chakra surging.

They moved into position, surrounding him and a shivering Ino.

"Please." He almost begged.

The ROOT moved. Directive I: Neutralize Target.

Naruto closed his eyes, in anticipation for what he knew he was about to do.

'I'm sorry…'

Nothing.

'I'm sorry.'

Nothing.

'I'm sorry.'

Something.

For the first time in battle, he let his control over his warring chakra natures go entirely.

The instincts of a natural killer were no longer held in check.

The Moon called. So did both sets of Raijin and Fūjin seals. His chakra burned, begging to be released.

So he did. Purple energy exploding around him.

Wind and Lightning, working together in complete harmony.

Two blades appeared in his hands, wreathed in purple lightning, sharp winds that glinted with the same color distorting the air around them.

He swept his left blade in a wide arc.

The ROOT ninja's tanto didn't even slow his blade, and as he swung, he went right through him, with a terrible crackling sound.

A second ninja was bisected, his guts leaking out, before he could even realize his teammate was dead.

The others stepped back. This moment of hesitation cost them, because Naruto definitely didn't think twice this time.

His right sword blurred through the air in a vertical arc, and one woman fell, in two pieces. Her organs littered the floor.

Holding both of his swords up, he crossed them in front of him, before throwing them at neck level.

While the twin blades flew, seemingly changing trajectories according to his will, another set of weapons was summoned in his hands, and he moved through the crowd after the flying swords, spinning, weaving…

And tearing through people, armors and walls alike.

Blood flew, covering him and the room.

The ANBU didn't stand a chance. Somebody begged for mercy. He didn't listen.

The Lightning that tore through them also shielded him from most attacks, and his weapons cut through their armor.

There was no hesitation, no second-guessing, and no mercy to be seen, either. That time had passed.

It was not the graceful, if deadly, dance of shinobi. It was a massacre.

A few moments later, Naruto was the only person standing, his eyes glowing purple.

He stepped through the fast pooling blood, dispelling his weapons.

The guard was dead too, his head laying somewhere away from his body, he noted absentmindedly.

There were other people jailed here. He probably didn't have the time to figure out who he should help or not.

When he stepped close to Ino, she whimpered.

Naruto recoiled, as though he had been stabbed. Was she afraid... of him?

He let the chakra fade away.

More people were coming. He could feel them, even through the murky barrier that permeated the basement.

"Ino."

She looked at him, unsure what to do… or think.

"We need to go." He urged, as gently as he could, extending his hand again. "Somewhere safe."

"They will hunt you… and me, too." She whispered. This was… No, this had been her home.

His eyes turned hard. "They will try."

"You can't stop them." Her head shook.

"I will protect you."

She hesitated again. "How can I trust you…?"

He closed his eyes. "I think you're going to have to."

"You already abandoned me once."

His heart skipped a beat.

"Ino… You knew…" Looking into her eyes, there was no doubt. "Since when?"

"From the very beginning." She muttered. "And even if I hadn't, you would have given yourself away, right now. Sarutobi's interest in you confirmed it."

"I…"

She just looked at him, at the people he had murdered. Unsure what to think of this man who might as well be a stranger. In her eyes, he must have seemed very different from the boy she knew.

He decided.

"Ino." He looked her in the eye. "We will have all the time in the world to speak about it. Once we leave."

"You don't know what you're asking for. This would mean leaving my village. The one dad died for."

Naruto noticed she didn't include him, using 'my' instead. And she was right. He wanted nothing to do with a village that would sacrifice their own so easily.

"My mother is still here. And my clan, too. My friends. I had hoped… to find a way." She continued. "I can't leave."

"They left you before. Some of the higher-ups intended to kill you, or use you as a bargaining chip."

Ino closed her eyes. She knew this was the truth.

Naruto continued. "I don't think they would risk you revealing anything compromising. They would rather kill you. You're not safe here."

"…"

"Come with me. Please."

Tears rolling down her face, she tried to grab his hand.

Her hand felt so stiff, the tendons cut, that he had to grab her shoulder instead. He noticed, and his expression turned blank, hiding the raw fury lurking behind. Someone would pay for this.

By the time the ROOT Anbu arrived, they were already gone.

Naruto appeared in Umi, in the middle of the lake.

One clone went to Orochimaru right away. He dashed toward Karin's signature, wreathed in the same purple energy. He noted that Sakura was back, too.

He landed on the first floor's balcony, waking both Karin and Sakura.

"Help me heal her. Please."

Karin took a look at the bloody Ino, snapped out of her stupor and pulled her sleeve back.

"Bite her." Naruto explained to her.

Ino, looking even weaker in the light of the living room, did so without questioning him. At this point, whatever it was they intended to do to her, there was nothing she could do.

Sakura looked as though she had a thousand questions, but she knew the time to ask them would only come later. She went to get some pillows for her to lay on.

Ino had definitely recognized them, too.

"What… are you guys doing here…?" She rasped out.

"Ino… Hush. They need to focus." Sakura told her, caressing her hair. "We will talk once this is done."

"Since… when… did you become so bossy… forehead?" Ino laughed weakly.

"Ino…" A tear rolled down Sakura's face.

Ino was asleep in the room that belonged to Karin.

The guilt of having killed so many people in a single night hadn't really reached him yet, it seemed.

Orochimaru was sipping tea in their living room, looking all too casual for this kind of night. As always.

"I see…" He said, lifting his steaming cup. "So that's what happened."

"…That's it?" Naruto asked, arms folded. "You know as well as I do what this means. As soon as tomorrow, I'm going to be Konoha's latest enemy. All of us."

"…So?" Orochimaru asked, lifting an eyebrow, and motioning for Karin to serve him more tea. "I thought you wanted nothing more to do with the village."

"…" Naruto's teeth ground together.

"Unless that was just posturing, of course. My bad if I misunderstood." Orochimaru shrugged.

"No." Naruto managed. "I meant what I said. But there's a drastic difference between being on neutral ground… and what we have now."

"Don't I know this." Orochimaru drawled.

"I… killed several of their men on my way out." Both Karin and Sakura shared a look.

"I kinda figured you went the lethal route when your clone came to find me covered in blood, yes."

"…Is everything just a game to you…?"

"No." Orochimaru shook his head. "But I knew the day would come where I wouldn't be in Konoha's good graces anymore. Everything is fleeting in this world, anyway."

"I messed up. This is on me."

"You saved your friend… didn't you?" Orochimaru asked rhetorically. "Besides, a Yamanaka is always welcome, if she's ready to work with us."

"…You have people you care about in Konoha, don't you..?"

"Anko is here with me." He shrugged. "Most of my friends are dead already, and that's the sad truth. Sarutobi and Jiraiya likely won't come after me directly if they can avoid it. They're sentimental like that." He chuckled. "And Tsunade is… wherever she is. So no. The way things happened doesn't really worry me."

He looked at Naruto's face, pretending to be thinking. "It might make recruiting people from Konoha a bit more complicated, though."

Naruto couldn't help it. He snorted, before breaking into nervous laughter. Karin was close to him, her hand near his.

"Now…" Orochimaru continued. "I know what's likely on your mind."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Being hunted? Something about being the strongest village's latest public enemy?"

"Oh please." Orochimaru chuckled. "That would be me. You're just my latest grunt… Disciple, I mean."

Naruto didn't rise to the bait. Outwardly.

"I mean about the Yamanaka." Orochimaru sobered up, and Naruto followed. "Inoichi's daughter, I assume."

"That's her."

"She could be useful. I might be able to heal her." Orochimaru dropped the bomb, as casual as ever.

"…What?" Naruto breathed out.

"I was Tsunade's teammate for decades, I picked up some knowledge, here and there. You might be a pretty… rough medic, but this is the kind of injury I can fix. Besides you gave me enough of your cells for me to figure a few things out. I'm still pretty far from the answers I really want, though." Orochimaru shrugged, only somewhat frustrated.

Naruto said nothing.

"You can see it as a reward to my ever faithful apprentice." Orochimaru finished.

Despite the terrible things that happened, that was… very relieving. If Naruto's eyes seemed a little wet, nobody said anything.

"Oh? Did Anko do something?" Naruto asked as innocently as he could, voice a bit rough.

Orochimaru cackled. "Very funny."

"I try."

"Now… Healing her might still take a bit of time. And…" He turned serious. "I will ask you to ensure she's loyal. If not to us, at least to you. She is in possession of some risky intel. Wiping a Yamanaka's memories might prove to be… tricky."

"I will see what I can do." Naruto nodded. He would not agree to erasing Ino's memories, anyway.

"If she decides to join us…" Orochimaru continued. "She might prove to be a very useful ally."

"That's up to her."

"Never said it wasn't." He shrugged.

"You always do this." Naruto grunted in frustration. The day had been way too long. "Keeping things vague, implying something else. Why don't you make simpler sentences. No double negations, for once."

"Make me." Orochimaru took another sip of tea.

"Not sleeping with me tonight? Your room is taken, isn't it?" Naruto asked. "Not that you have to, of course. Just curious." He amended himself.

Karin looked surprised.

"Well… No. Ino is back." She stared at him.

"What does this have to do with anything…?" He wondered aloud.

"Well, I just assumed…" Karin started.

"Assumed what…?"

"Don't make me spell it out loud." She groaned. But she looked both a bit sad and… envious. Or at least that's what he thought it was.

"Please."

She let out a long sigh. When she spoke again, she did not meet his eyes. "Well… You and Ino always had something back then. Now that she's back…"

Ah. Now he got it.

"You… assumed that as soon as I found somebody else… I'd get rid of you?" He asked, unsure if he got it right.

"Well, you put it quite… bluntly." She winced. "But yes. Essentially."

She shrugged, trying — and failing — to look casual. "I understand, though. And I'd like us to remain friends."

Then he did something that surprised him. He snorted. Karin glared at him.

"That's not really funny."

"No. You're right. It's not." He said. "But you misunderstood me."

"…What? Why?" She asked, and he almost felt bad about seeing her look so hopeful… and vulnerable.

"I meant what I said. I don't know what to call… what we have."

"I thought it was just a really healthy friendship." Karin tried to joke.

He laughed. "It is, then. But whatever it is… This is not something I want to be temporary. At all."

"So… You mean...?" She started to smile.

"For sure. I want this for… a long time." He really meant forever but didn't dare say it. "If you're willing, I mean. You're free to go… or do anything you want, in the meantime. I know that you will find somebody at some point, somebody that could give you a proper commitment and-"

"Oh, shut up, stupid." She laughed.

"…Huh?"

"I don't think I even want that." Karin replied.

"…No? What do you want?"

"Take a guess, stupid." She stared at him.

"Ah." Maybe he got it. "Isn't this… a bit too unconventional?"

"…Maybe I'm just kinda fucked up, who knows." She shrugged.

He frowned. "You're not fucked up because of Kusa, don't joke about that."

"Eh. Fact is, growing up there probably left me with a fair bit of trauma."

"That's kinda fucked up."

Karin shrugged again. "I know I am. That's Kusa for you."

"I don't mean you're fucked up." He groaned.

"I don't mind, either way." She laughed. "And I don't mind whatever it is… or whoever it is you want to do. As long as there's a spot for good ol' Karin."

She gave him a pointed look.

"…Always. Although that does sound pretty strange." He admitted.

"You should be glad for the opportunity." She folded her arms, sniffing. "Men have killed for less."

"They weren't me, though."

"You're a real prince charming, huh."

"Sure am." He retorted. "I assume you just want a spot by my side for when... I finally become the emperor of these beautiful islands…"

"Oh? Will you be?" She pretended to swoon.

"Well, once Orochimaru gets bored and fucks off to space… or wherever it is he's going to next."

"…What if I do? Everybody knows it's the hot concubine who wields the power behind the scene… Not the foolish man that's being dragged around by his cock." She laughed.

"Take it back, you little shit." He jumped on her.

"Never~" She grabbed his hair, mashing her lips against his.

He grabbed her by her hips, pulling her onto his lap. They stayed like this.

"Thanks, Karin." He ended up saying.

"For being so great?" She laughed.

"…Yeah, I guess. You cheered me up."

She shrugged. "Somebody had to. Probably wasn't going to be Orochimaru."

He chuckled.

"Besides…" She added, switching back to another topic. "Sakura is kinda hot, isn't she? She's definitely my type."

"…I don't know what you mean."

"Ah come on, I saw how you were looking at her on the boat. Must be an Uzumaki thing."

"…Whatever happened on the boat… happened on the boat. That's where it stays." He looked away.

"Admit it… You scaredy cat."

"Did you call me a pussy?"

"Nah. That would be misogynistic." But her eyes were bright.

"I'll show you a pussy." He grunted.

"Oh, please… Do so." She breathed out, in mock rapture. Little shit.

He would really, really, prefer not to think about plenty of other things right now.