Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Regret Not A Thing ❯ Ch. 3: Down the Rabbit Hole ( Chapter 3 )

Regret Not A Thing

By Mizerable

 

 

Ch. 3: Down the Rabbit Hole

 

Tsunade was attempting to show a bit of patience. She stood in the hall of H-B-4, her eyes tracing the series of pipes winding across the ceiling, while Ibiki conducted his interrogation with Sasuke. Though her anxiety and curiosity were proving to be a poor mix while she tried to keep herself from fidgeting. She instead began reading Sasuke's medical chart that Shizune had prepared. It did not look good.

 

“Lacerations along left arm of various length do not appear self-inflicted nor from battle. The skin appears to have pulled open from infection and has rendered the arm useless. Use of the left eye drains high amounts of chakra…”

 

Tsunade had very little doubt of what the symptoms meant. It sounded like Sasuke's body could no longer take the strain of the curse seal. Though how that was even possible mystified her. With Orochimaru dead and gone, the seal should have vanished with him. It was almost as puzzling as how in the hell Sasuke ever managed to beat Itachi with only one good arm. It was quite possible the condition Sasuke was in was solely because of the fight.

 

No, she knew perfectly well that wasn't it at all.

 

The door suddenly opened before she could contemplate anything further.

 

“Has he said anything?” she asked coolly.

 

“Guys like that'll tell you anything,” Ibiki answered gruffly.

 

“Meaning?” so much for her attempt at patience.

 

“Meaning he's resigned to his death. It doesn't matter what we do to get him to answer. He's accepted his fate and just wants to get it over with,” he explained, “And to be quite honest, I doubt he's got much longer anyway.”

 

Tsunade couldn't argue with that logic. How would they be able to question Sasuke when he had no reason to tell them anything? He knew he was going to die, if not by law than by his own traitorous body. And if she was going to be frank about it, it wasn't as if he had much to gain by staying alive anyway.

 

“So do you feel it would even be worth it to prosecute him?” she asked blandly. She might be a crappy poker player, but she had the classic poker face down to a science.

 

“Would you think it rude of me to say I refuse?”

 

So maybe even her poker face wasn't very impressive, after all.

 

“I didn't think you'd be the type to let a criminal off just because he has a sad story.”

 

“That's hardly the reason,” Ibiki all but growled out, perhaps a bit incensed, “And while I understand you're trying to avoid another Orochimaru situation, killing someone who made shitty choices as a kid to make an example out of him isn't any better.”

 

“So attempted murder and treason aren't good enough reasons anymore?”

 

“You know,” Ibiki began calmly, “There was another case like this. A young ninja thought she was doing the right thing and in actuality committed some rather terrible crimes. But the Third knew in his heart of hearts that she was a good person and spared her life. I remember being furious at the time, believing evil could only be committed by an evil person…Do you know who that ninja was?”

 

She did.

 

“It was Anko, wasn't it.”

 

Fair enough. Tsunade decided not to press the issue any further just yet. She would speak to Sasuke herself even if Ibiki was too influenced by past events to look at this situation objectively. She should have known being Hokage would be a lot more work than she was willing to undertake. She entered Sasuke's room anyway.

 

* * *

 

“Hello, Sasuke-kun.”

 

He seemed stoic enough, and perhaps a little lost in this room. It wasn't the blinding white of a normal hospital, being so far underground that it was a fair bit bleak and made of concrete. Tsunade let herself fall into her clinical frame of mind as she began unraveling the bandages on his arm. Shizune had been smart enough to also wrap his left eye. That could be dealt with later. Even after being cleaned and treated, his pitiful arm was not an easy sight to take in. The skin didn't seem to be pulling apart so much as rotting away. She never had the opportunity to see it herself, but its appearance was not so unlike Orochimaru's own arms falling apart from the Third's curse.

 

“How long has your arm been like this?”

 

He kept his good eye trained on the far wall, perhaps looking at a different time and place than where he was now.

 

Tsunade decided to take a slightly more compassionate approach.

 

“When did the…infection start to take hold like this?” She knew better than to call it a curse right to his face. He kept silent though and she was starting to doubt he would answer anything.

 

“When I…left. After…”

 

“After you fought Naruto?”

 

He gave the vaguest nod, thinking back on a long road and driving rain and a stinging pain in his arm.

 

“And it took four years to spread this much?”

 

“…No,” Tsunade raised an eyebrow, “It didn't start again until after Orochimaru…”

 

“Died,” she finished. Only Orochimaru would be vindictive enough to have something do more damage after he died. Though she had to wonder why even he would bother.

 

As she leaned in to further examine the seal, she noticed something rather surprising. The common binding seal Kakashi had put in place was gone, though that wasn't the shocking part. In its place was a far more complex seal that she didn't recognize. She'd have to let Jiraiya take a look at it.

 

“Where did you get this second seal?”

 

“Kabuto,” he answered briskly, “It was supposed to keep the seal relatively in-check.”

 

Tsunade didn't trust anything Kabuto was involved with. However, she didn't know enough about it to start tampering with it yet. She'd leave it be for now and hoped that Sasuke might be a little more forthcoming.

 

“How was Orochimaru killed?”

 

“…I hadn't been in the room when it happened,” his voice still sounded raspy, and she wondered if the “infection” had spread to his chest, “Whoever it was that attacked…They dressed all in black, faces covered, no headbands.”

 

“Did you fight them?”

 

“No…I took the opportunity to sneak out.”

 

It wasn't too surprising of an answer. Sasuke never claimed to have been interested in any of Orochimaru's plans. Though that hadn't made their partnership any less of a threat.

 

“And exactly where did you go after the Sound fell?”

 

“Mist. If you're looking for criminals, it's a good place to start.”

 

“I suppose I can't argue with you there,” she said with a grim smile. So he went to Mist, and somehow wound up back in Fire Country to kill his brother. And how in god's name did he do that when he looked like he could barely sit up?

 

“How did you defeat Itachi?”

 

His face darkened considerably, his entire body grew rigid with some emotion she couldn't quite place. For someone who accomplished the goal he ruined his life for, Sasuke didn't seem too pleased about it.

 

“I don't know,” he mumbled, “It seemed too…easy.”

 

Tsunade doubted he was going to give any more details than that. Too fresh a wound, she imagined. Where could she proceed from here?

 

“Do you know why the seal became worse after Orochimaru's death?” she drifted back to this topic since he seemed likely to actually say something about it.

 

“Spite,” he answered rather quickly, “He always figured he might be betrayed by someone with the curse seal. So he made sure that if he was brought down somehow that everyone would fall with him.”

 

That certainly sounded like something the old snake would do. Tsunade believed this was the only time Sasuke had been completely honest with her so far.

 

“I know you're aware of your pending execution…” Tsunade paused, “But this curse will probably kill you just the same.”

 

He continued to stare straight ahead, proving he would probably be a better poker player than her.

 

“We don't have a cure for it,” she continued, “We haven't been able to help Anko, either.”

 

His body jerked ever so slightly. He'd apparently forgotten someone else in the village had the curse seal, and that they must have been aware of what happened to it when Orochimaru died.

 

“She hasn't deteriorated as much,” Tsunade kept her voice even, “However she has been forced out of active duty. With that in mind, I have a proposition for you.”

 

She had his attention now.

 

“I'm not about to let a good ninja like Anko die. I will find a cure and you are going to be the test subject,” Tsunade decided he looked most uncomfortable when surprised, “If I can manage to heal her with your help, we'll reevaluate your punishment then.”

 

He didn't argue with her, though she assumed he knew better than to protest in his situation. Though it didn't stop him from making a request she certainly hadn't been prepared for.

 

“During this treatment,” he began, seeming almost…embarrassed? “Can I go home at all?”

 

God, this kid was too much. Her face softened, saddened even.

 

“The Uchiha Compound has long been boarded up, I'm afraid…”

 

I'm sorry.

 

“You should remain under surveillance anyway. I'll make arrangements for you.”

 

* * *

 

Shikamaru kept his head down on his way home. His rather specific orders were barely more than fuzz in his brain now. Instead his feet led him down winding and familiar streets but he didn't see a thing. Instead, he remembered.

 

* * *

 

Approximately One Year Ago

 

The humidity of Sound country had been terribly oppressive, with the hum of mosquitoes heavy in the air. It should be said that there wasn't so much a Sound Village as there was a Compound. And that wasn't even so much a compound as it was a ghost town by the time they had arrived. The heavy wooden and steel doors of the entryway were splintered and blackened, likely blasted open. It was possible the invaders hadn't been covert, but as the Anbu hadn't been present there was no real way to know what happened.

 

No village, ally or enemy, had taken credit for the attack, though there were plenty of political implications for that. Either wanting to hide their true strength or possibly avoid counterattacks from surviving Sound shinobi were viable reasons. And those were just the obvious ones.

 

Inside there was some structural damage and it certainly had that “death” smell to it, but there was a surprising lack of actual corpses. Bizarre.

 

“Holy…”

 

It was “bear mask.” She was a long time veteran in the Anbu, having even served with Kakashi back in the day. She'd seen a lot in her time, though even she couldn't be blamed for being upset. The body was hideous.

 

Its throat had been split ear to ear, now stained a dark coffee color and oozing of maggots. Stringy black hair covered half of its rotting face, while the rest of the body was bloated and decaying. They'd obviously arrived a decent amount of time after this person had died. It took Shikamaru a lot of effort not to pull back his wolf mask and puke.

 

“Bird mask” was peering closely at the body's visible eye sunken in the socket, but still golden in color and full of surprise even in death.

 

“It's definitely Orochimaru,” he confirmed flatly. It figured Neji had ice for blood.

 

Shikamaru tried to hold it together as they ventured on, but couldn't help but wonder what other grotesque sights they might stumble upon. Enemy or not, seeing a body mangled like that was a fair bit too gruesome for his stomach to take. It wasn't long before someone called out from the distance. They'd found something.

 

The squad gathered around a floor grate and all had the sinking feeling that it probably wasn't a storm drain. Somehow a person can just tell where someone's been imprisoned. Knowing Orochimaru's penchant for kidnapping and experimentation didn't help the situation. Shikamaru would always regret going down that hole. If Death were a room, this was it. And what was it about the smell of vomit that always made other people do the same…Off came the mask.

 

There were a few scattered bodies, most skeletons by now. Though with the vicious humidity, a dead body was only going to decompose that much faster. It was hard to gauge how long it had been since any of them had passed away.

 

“Look at the walls,” Neji whispered. Perhaps not so icy, after all…

 

Shikamaru didn't feel quite so sick now. More than anything, he wanted to cry. But a ninja doesn't cry on a mission so…He steeled himself and took in the countless helpless hopeless words scrawled everywhere. Nothing hurt more than knowing the people who wrote these words probably never got out.

 

“Just let me die”

“I'm so sorry”

“There is no god”

“Help…Please help”

“You'll pay someday”

“Kill me”

“Forgive me”

 

Shikamaru focused on one plea in particular and for some reason it was the one that bothered him the most.

 

“I can breathe. I can think. I have hope.”

 

* * *

 

Ino heard the chime signaling a customer and prepared a cheerful greeting that died in her throat.

 

“Oh…hey,” she finished awkwardly. She doubted her slight smile fooled him at all. “The usual?”

 

He gave a small nod, not really looking at her. She gathered the flowers together while making a good deal of effort to keep her back to him the entire time.

 

“Say hi to the boys for me, won't you?” her voice was a quiet mouse. She reached out to touch his arm but changed her mind halfway though, letting her hand fall lamely to her side. His eyes dropped to the floor and he mumbles his thanks. He really did appreciate the flowers always being on the house, and all. She tried to offer a small smile.

 

It was awkward.

 

* * *

 

They used the cover of night to slip Sasuke out of the hospital. He was surprised and at the same time not that the Hokage hadn't opted to have him put under Kakashi's supervision. That man wasn't his teacher anymore, so naturally Sasuke wasn't really his responsibility either. It was just as well, though. Sasuke really didn't care for the idea of Kakashi being his warden.

 

What he could vaguely recall of Anko was that she'd been a startlingly loud and flashy woman. In fact, she had reminded him a bit of—

 

Well, the woman who opened the door at this late hour hardly seemed to be the same person from his memories. Sallow skin and hollowed cheekbones with a fine sheen of sweat coating her skin, her hair damp and matted clung to her face.

 

“And here I thought I was in bad shape,” she greeted with a weak grin. Anko's sense of humor certainly wasn't for everyone.

 

She hurried him inside and all but shut the door on his escorts. She pulled back the hood of the sweatshirt he'd been hiding under to get a better look at him. There was now a black patch over his eye instead of bandages and a few splotches of black from the seal marked his cheek. His left arm was drawn against his chest in a sling and Anko was sure she'd never seen a more pathetic sight in her life.

 

“Well I'm sure you must be exhausted so lemme show you your room.”

 

She led him to the spare bedroom and seemed ready to leave without another word. But she paused and fished something out of the pocket of her housecoat.

 

“Here,” she pressed the object into his hand, “So you can find your way around while you adjust.”

 

She closed the door while Sasuke stood staring at the nightlight resting in his palm. She hadn't showered him with pleasantries nor shown disgust at his choices. All Anko did was give him a stupid light but he knew then and there that she probably understood him perfectly.

 

As he lay awake that night, the dim light glowing in the corner, he could still feel the darkness swallow him. There was no one to pull him out of hell this time.

 

“You really were weak, right to the end.”

 

* * *

 

He'd been certain he was going to die down in that pit.

 

His arm had exploded with pain and blood and it hurt too much to see a damn thing with his left eye now. The only way out was too high above him and he just didn't have the energy to try anymore. He knew everything would be left unfinished and that all the suffering he'd endured was all for nothing now. But he made his peace as best he could and waited for his life to quietly end.

 

But when that door opened, when a silhouette backlit by firelight reached out a hand to him, all he wanted more than anything was that second chance.