Chapter 21: Recovering

-Orochimaru-

Orochimaru took a moment to process the memories of his shadow clone. Jiraiya's arrival was not something he had been prepared for.

This complicated things.

Orochimaru's thoughts raced through all his options. One wrong move would be enough to alert Danzo to the fact that something wasn't right. He would not make that mistake. With a smile on his face, he motioned to the free chair. 

"Have a seat," Orochimaru fluidly said.

"Speak," ordered Danzo as he took the offered seat.

Orochimaru leaned back in his chair, long fingers interlacing on the table before him.

"Not so fast. I need some assurance that you will hold your end of the deal." Making a favorable deal was paramount right now.

"And what about you, Orochimaru?" asked Danzo, suspicion lacing his words. "What sort of insurance will you give me?"

"We've reached an impasse here." Orochimaru leaned forward, his eyes never leaving Danzo's narrowed one. Now it was all about negotiation. He was sure that Danzo's eyes were on the scroll, but this wasn't something he would give so readily.

"Very well," said Orochimaru, breaking the tension. "As a show of good faith, I will hand you over the virus and its formula. Give me what I want and then… you will get the Uzumaki scroll."

Danzo weighed the offer. "And what would you want in exchange?"

"A guarantee would be wonderful," Orochimaru said, his hand moving theatrically through the space between them. "The array of clan members you have among your troupes… especially the Yamanaka and their wonderful mind-walking technique always fascinated me."

"I will leave one of my lieutenants here with you. Fuso." At Danzo's signal, a masked Root agent materialized before them. "This is Yamanaka Fuso, Inoichi's younger brother."

Orochimaru measured the man from head to toe. He was reasonably tall, with long, straw-colored hair held in the typical Yamanaka-style high ponytail.

"Interesting… then we have a deal." Orochimaru stood, watching as Danzo did the same. "Give me good news, and you will get the scroll."

A vial of yellowish liquid and a small scroll appeared in his hand. Orochimaru gave the virus to Danzo and watched the man's eye flash victoriously.

Danzo nodded, and with one hand motion, thirty Root agents jumped from the shadows and filled the space between Orochimaru and their leader.

The Snake Sannin smirked at his paranoia, then casually turned around and motioned for Fuso to follow him.

-Kaito-

The Konoha Hospital always had an antiseptic smell that made Kaito's nose itch. Combined with the whitewashed walls, crisp white sheets, and neon lights, the building made him uncomfortable. Nurses and doctors, all dressed in white uniforms and carrying clipboards, walked by, neither sparing him a glance. They had given up trying to ask him what he was doing in the hallway.

After reaching Konoha, they rushed him and his two students to the quarantine area of the hospital and prodded them with needles for hours. The medics took samples of their blood to try to isolate traces of the disease that plagued them. Once finished with their probing, the medics began with their questions, asking for detailed descriptions of their symptoms and what they had observed in others. When they were finally released, a warm meal and a bath were the only things on the boys' minds.

Kaito did not allow himself such a reprieve. After a quick shower and a bland meal, he was back in the hospital and remained there, like a ghost roaming the halls, glaring at doctors and nurses alike. 

Surrounded by the white of the hospital, Yahizui's hair stood out like a sore thumb. She looked small, like the child that she was.

His fists tightened, teeth grinding against each other at the memory of their return. When he had first seen her, she had been huddled up in the Uchiha's arm, her eyes full of terror as she trembled like a hunted animal. Yahizui did not speak the entire way back to Konoha. She didn't eat or drink, nor would she look anyone in the eye.

The sound of footsteps echoed off the walls, moving towards him. Kaito narrowed his eyes, not bothering to turn his head. He already knew who it was. As the familiar presence of his old teacher stopped beside him, Kaito couldn't keep the scowl from deepening on his face.

"I've already told the Hokage everything," Kaito said. "There's no need for your interrogation."

"I'm not here to interrogate you," the tall man replied quietly, the scar crossing his face moving with each word. "I'm here to check on how you cope."

Kaito sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning away from his former teacher's inquisitive gaze. "No need to baby me, Ibiki-san."

By his side, Ibiki leaned against the wall and frowned through the small window. "What happened?"

"I refused to take a genin team," snarled Kaito, "Konoha forced me to take one anyway, and six months later here I am."

Kaito sensed the man's dark eyes drill into his skull. "Taking on a team was for your own good, you know that," said Ibiki, his gaze returning to examining the hospital room. "You can't go around blaming yourself forever for what happened with the first team. You need to move on Kaito; it affects your personal life and your professional life."

His first team was his biggest failure. Their blood still stained his hands, the guilt still gnawing at him. This shit happened because meddling old men didn't mind their own business! He had been doing fine in the T&I division before Ibiki had taken his attention away from work and focused on him. If it weren't for him, he could still avoid anything that had to do with snotty little brats that only managed to either get hurt or die!

"It works well enough for you, doesn't it, sensei?" Kaito snapped back.

"That was not the same!" For the first time in years, his mentor's voice grew enraged. "I could have protected Kushina. There was nothing you could have done about those poor kids, it was war! People die in a war, that's just how it is."

The silence following Ibiki's outburst was tense, reminding Kaito that he had gone too far. This was his failure they were discussing.

"No, I was helpless back then," said Kaito. Admitting it was like pulling teeth, yet strangely liberating. Still, realizing that he had been powerless all those years ago when he was taking care of his first-genin team didn't make the burden on his shoulders lighter. There was still a battered girl before him, captured while she had been in his care.  "But I could've done something this time."

Ibiki looked at him, gaze heavy with his own failure and guilt. Admitting one's shortcomings so raw and open was not something done often, if ever. Things happened, missions went wrong, and people died; that was their life, the path they had chosen. Death was a daily occurrence for shinobi, and everyone came to terms with that by the time they reached the rank of jounin. But sometimes they struggled. Sometimes someone they cared for died, shattering their complacent view of death Kaito knew that pain well due to his previous team, and Ibiki knew of it as well… with Kushina.

"She's going to be fine," said Ibiki, looking at Yahizui's sleeping figure. "The Uzumaki are resilient that way."

Kaito followed his line of sight and sighed. Things weren't so simple. "I'm not sure about it. Yahizui grew up thinking she was a civilian. She's had none of the Uzumaki values instilled in her." Yahizui was headstrong and adamant that she could be good even if she were a nobody. There was none of the Uzumaki pride in their culture, nothing for her to fall back upon, and no one who could guide her through this time.

"Then show her." Ibiki's words pulled him out of his thoughts.

Show her, how?

Seeing his confusion, Ibiki sighed. "Take the kid to the temple; let her learn more about the clan she's part of. Kushina always found solace there."

Kaito shook his head. "Yahizui is not Kushina, why would she value the same things? She has a terrible view of 'clanned' people. I can imagine what she thinks now that she's one of them."

"Stupid kid," grumbled Ibiki.

Kushina had been beyond proud of her heritage, almost driving them insane with tales of Uzushio's incredible island and culture.

"No, she's not Kushina, and she doesn't have to be." Ibiki finally said. "But it's better than doing nothing."

-Yahizui-

Darkness surrounded Yahizui, swallowing her, seeping into her skin, and making her part of an unending abyss. She tried to move, but her limbs would not respond, as if they weren't even there. Her entire body disappeared into the darkness, leaving her mind to float through the void. She wanted to scream for help but she had no mouth, wanted to run but she had no legs to move with.

All that remained was… a light!

Yahizui willed herself toward it - or maybe it was coming to her? It was no ordinary light. Two yellow, serpentine eyes illuminated the surrounding void, like lanterns in the dark. And then her body was suddenly back, bruised and bare, tied to the cold stone of a damp room.

No!

Yahizui tried to scream, but all that came out was a guttural sound.

She could not speak, her tongue lying on the dirty ground by her feet, cut from the root just as he promised.

A terrible grin spread on the face of the man—no, the monster — before her. It revealed rows of white, sharp teeth and kept on widening until the corners of his lips had reached the sides of his face in a grotesque display.

She couldn't scream even if she wanted, her voice leaving her entirely, willed away by the creature before her.

Orochimaru's maw opened, widening to abnormal angles sharp teeth and a long tongue encompassed her. It moved toward her, threatening to swallow her whole, then stopped. Yahizui panted, trying once more to move, to scream, to do anything. Her body remained frozen, unresponsive to her pleading.

From inside the gaping jaws, white snakes erupted, moving toward her with blinding speed. They came at her, biting her flesh away and burying their scaly bodies in the wounds they made, digging inside her body, inside her mind.

Her scream pulled through, raw and terrified until her body was once more under her command and she could flay her arms around and felt… cotton.

Cotton?

Yahizui heard a door closing and frantically opened her eyes, trying to get the white cotton material out of her face and beginning to panic at her inability to do so. The images of before were still fresh in her mind, cumbering her movements.

"Yahizui?"

The worried tone and that timbre worked like a calming balm to her frayed nerves. Her erratic movements stopped as she allowed Itachi to untangle the blanket from around her.

"Are you all right?" said Itachi in a soft voice, his eyebrows pinched with worry.

Yahizui forced a smile on her lips, patting down her messy hair. "I'm fine, just a nightmare."

His dark eyes bore into hers; searching for answers, she could not give. "I don't believe you."

She said nothing.  Just thinking of trying to explain her fears and feelings right now made her throat clench and her heart beat erratically in her chest. She couldn't, just couldn't. Her eyes diverted away and silence fell over them. She was thankful he didn't push. Itachi was patient, and that was what she needed right now. Time to come to terms with what had happened; time to process the reality of the panic-induced horror.

Silence reigned between them with neither saying anything yet content with each other's presence.

"Thank you," Yahizui finally said, her smaller hand catching his and squeezing it tight. If it weren't for him…

Itachi's voice was barely above a whisper, his eyes downcast. "Don't thank me, I did nothing…  not enough."

Yahizui's eyes roamed over Itachi's face, his long hair, and the tired lines that were ever present on his cheeks. What a modest fool he was. With her free hand, she caught Itachi's cheek, lifting his head up to gaze at her once more. "You did everything."

"Yahizui…"

There was something in his unfathomable dark eyes, simmering there just beneath the surface, hidden by a thin layer of self-control and doubt. She wanted to reach for it, delve into it, and discover the hidden words resting on the tip of his tongue. But before she could even blink, Itachi spoke in a gentle tone.

"I'm glad you're safe."

Warmth spread through her at the sound of those words. Yes, she was back home; and seeing him here before her made her feel safe, like somehow, at some point she will go back to her carefree attitude. Her eyes misted over, and her lips stretched in a smile. She gave him a small nod, not trusting her voice to utter any words. There were none needed, not with him, not with them. Itachi squeezed her hand, and for a moment Yahizui thought he was going to say something else when the door opened, and Tojiro's head peeked in.

"Oh, didn't mean to disturb!"

Itachi let go of her hand, any emotion he had replaced by calm politeness. "No worries, I was just leaving." He gave her one last look and left, leaving Yahizui's eyes to trail after him. 

Her thoughts were however quickly replaced with a smile as her two teammates entered the room. "Hey, guys!"