Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Within the Pale White Light ❯ Freaky Freaks ( Chapter 10 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Gloria Stone 
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 10.17.2006 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.7K | Visits: 824 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 10.17.2006 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.7K | Visits: 824 | Status: Work In Progress
Ya FINALLY I get rolling. I can’t tell you how hard the writers block is hitting me. I started this chapter like 7 different ways. Each time I cursed, saved what I wrote just in case (even if it sucked ass) and started again. I finally decided on this, even if I was afraid of revealing to much. Still its probably about time I start explaining things.
I’ve got fanart posted on mediaminer I go under gloriastone82. Got a pic of the new armor as well as an explanation for it.
Oh and before I forget, I have seen Naruto up to like episode 172 or something, I think that’s at about the bug thing. I don‘t really remember. Anyway the point of this is to say that I know nothing, well almost nothing about Gaara’s kidnapping and so forth. Some of my facts may be different than the facts in the show. Lets just go with the excuse of I don’t know better. It shouldn’t matter to much anyway as this story takes place before all that stuff. I’m ignoring my ignorance right now since I don’t wanna spoil the surprise when I finally have money to buy the dvds.
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I am here. In a prison of darkness. For years I have seen nothing, I have smelled nothing, I felt nothing.
So dark, so long, I sometimes wonder how I have managed for so many years. Any other creature would have long ago succumbed.
Yes I was sealed,
Yes I am imprisoned.
NO I will not be caged forever. I can escape.
However escape would mean my death. I think…I think I would rather be in the dark.
At least here, sometimes that boy comes to see me. And lately the cage that separates us has blurred a little. Apparently giving him my charka is effecting both of us in ways I never thought possible.
I used to hate the boy. Hated him with a passion I had rarely felt. But since he has allowed…well I think ‘allowed’ is the word. I’m not sure he’s even aware he’s doing it. But he has allowed me to see the world through his senses. He has cracked the cage a little. Its nice, seeing the world I had almost forgotten.
It makes me hate him less. Its to the point we can actually talk sometimes.
Its been so long since I just ‘talked’ to someone that I surprised myself that I remembered the language.
It was not the boys fault.
The Kyuubi shifted within its prison, an amused smile on its face.
How little they all knew. How little the boy knew about himself, and about the ones around him. It was amusing but also kind of sad.
They were the last, 8 humans and two demons.
Only the two demons knew the truth…well at least he did. The Kyuubi wasn’t sure but he would bet that Shukaku had long ago lost its mind…er if he had any to begin with.
The fox had known Shukaku long ago, before he had become the demon spirit. There hadn’t been a lot of sanity then either.
They hadn’t always been demons. Long long ago, centuries in fact, they had had bodies. They had been, well they hadn’t exactly been mortal, but they weren’t demons either.
They had walked the earth like any human.
But to escape death they had to become more. They had forsaken their bodies, and merged with the wild energies that had saturated the world around them.
Skukaku had taken the likeness of a Tanuki. Becoming a demon of blood and insanity.
He had become the fox. Clever and wild, he had become a demon of war. Constantly fighting, surrounded in fire, hate and rage.
Again the Kyuubi shifted. It was restless and slightly annoyed. Apparently Naruto had done something stupid and the ones in black had given him a ‘love tap’. There was no damage, only sleep and the fox was left alone in the darkness that came whenever his vessel slept.
If only Naruto knew the common thread they shared. If he knew that he wasn’t completely…human. Not to say that he wasn’t human, but he was more than just that at the same time, and it actually had nothing to do with the fox inside his gut.
Naruto belonged to an ancient bloodline. Far older than anything most of Konoha could claim. His ancestor had been the same as the fox had once been.
Unlike Shukaku and the Kyuubi however, who decided to become demons and thus immortal. Some had decided to become humans. They had changed, found mates and raised families….then they died.
Slowly over the years, the bloodlines died one by one. The mixed blood made it…well some were infertile, others simply could only have only one or two children. Mix that with the ninja lifestyle and one can imagine how the bloodlines died out.
However all of this didn’t really matter. What did matter was that they were all in horrible danger. At first he hadn’t been too worried…until he heard through Naruto’s ears about the Covenant.
He had forgotten a lot when he had become a demon. That was the sacrifice, the mind no matter how willful or smart was in the end, the weakest point in anyone’s body. His mind had lost a lot in the merging. Shukaku had totally lost it. Becoming almost mindless.
However…now the Kyuubi was starting to remember. He had gone deep into Naruto’s body and had lain in the darkness trying to remember more.
He remembered the flood, he remembered the Tej Ved. But he simply could not remember why he knew these things.
He knew the flood was a horrible terrible force. Capable of wiping out everything. He distinctly remembered the rotting bloated bodies and the tentacles of the parasites.
But why did he remember?
Thus far he was unable to link the pieces together.
He did know one thing thought. The Tej Ved would be able to help.
They were in this strange world because something was broken.
Something very important.
The fox shook itself. It wondered if Naruto would follow its advise if he realized how little the fox actually knew. Still…the more he sat and thought the more he remembered.
Maybe by the time Naruto found the Tej Ved he would remember the rest.
For now, all he could do was wait. Wait for Naruto to wake up, wait for things to get rolling.
“Oh my head.”
Naruto muttered as he started to come around. His head hurt, a pounding throbbing stab to his temples. What the hell?
Oh ya…bastards hit me.
Shaking his head Naruto slowly became aware of his surroundings.
One he was in a chair, a very uncomfortable chair at that. It was made of some kind of metal. With a very straight back which his arms were currently handcuffed behind.
Shifting slightly Naruto found out that yes his butt was numb.
And no he couldn’t move the chair, it seemed the stupid thing was bolted to the floor or something. Naruto pulled on the cuffs holding his hands behind him. The metal cuffs were uncomfortable, but they didn’t bite to much. Naruto had been bound before with much less comfortable stuff. There was this rope that Jiryaya used that would literally skin you alive if you didn’t know how to work with it.
Damn! His head hurt. Naruto took a moment to try and remember what happened. He had gotten caught again.
Kankuro was going to kill him.
Then he had started yelling. Stuff about black clad bastards attacking him and how they had better not hurt Hinata.
Oh ya…I tried to head butt on of them. I think they knocked me out after that.
Naruto smiled. That had been funny. The look on that mans face when Naruto had very nearly smashed his head into his. Naruto had a thick skull and helmet or not, he had been determined to make the bastard hurt.
Glancing around the room Naruto was sorely disappointed in the decor. It was a very simple, very plain, very boring gray room. In fact the walls looked like some sort of metal. There were no windows and the only furniture was two chairs and a small table. Oh that and the video camera’s.
They were well hidden, but Naruto could clearly hear the whirling of machinery. For the next few minutes Naruto made a game of spotting the cameras. He made good use of his new eyesight doing this. He could actually see the tiny pinpoints in the wall across the room. It was kind of fun, that and it passed the time. He wondered when someone was going to come and get him. Surely they didn’t plan to just leave him in the room.
Very quickly spot the camera game became boring.
Hm looks like the table is bolted down too.
Naruto pondered as he stared at the floor. He wondered if the bolts were stronger than the one in his chair. If he could just stand up he might be able to wiggle his arms in front of him rather than in the back. That way he could form hand seals if needed.
Scooting back as far as he could in his chair Naruto lifted his legs up and placed his feet against the table. The position was very uncomfortable as Naruto’s knees were literally in his face. It was rather awkward as well, he kind of wondered if he had to leverage needed to do this. Pushing hard against the table, Naruto wiggled his chair trying to weaken the bolts holding him down. At first nothing happened as Naruto grunted and pushed as hard as he could.
Ok, this is harder than it looks. One two HEAVE!
Naruto pushed again. The table and chair didn’t seem to give an inch.
One two heave!
The second time however….the bolts holding down the chair broke with a suddenly metal wrenching snap. It was so suddenly that Naruto yelped startled as his chair fell backwards with all the strength had had been pushing with. He slammed into the floor, making little stars dance in front of his eyes.
“Ow the back of my head!”
That had hurt more than he expected. And he thought that his head hurt before.
Not only that but apparently he had only broken the bolts on the front of the chair, the back legs had merely bent backwards. So here he was, still unable to stand up or get his hands in front of him, with an added bonus of laying on the floor his legs draped over the most uncomfortable chair in the world.
Silence rang through the small room as Naruto just laid there for a moment.
“I’m hungry.”
He said to himself just to break the silence.
“HEY! I KNOW YOUR WATCHING!! FEEED ME DAMNIT!! HHEEEEY HEY HEY HEY HEY!!!”
Naruto prided himself on his annoyance factor. After all he was a prankster at heart and annoying people till they cracked was the greatest joke ever.
So he screamed, demanding Ramen and demanding that someone tell him where he was and where Hinata was. On top of all the ranting he demanded a more comfy chair. He kicked his legs in the air at that for extra emphasis.
When no one answered Naruto started to kick at the table. It made a wonderfully loud thunk that seem to vibrate in the air so he hit it again, then again all the while screaming at the top of his lungs.
Suddenly a door swished open.
Hey that was kind of cool. It like was automatic. Whoooosh. Whooosh
Naruto frowned however as the person coming through the door turned out to be one of the assholes that had shot at him.
Hm not the ones that first captured me though. One had been a large man, the other a red head. This is a woman, hmm Ah yes she had been the one protecting the creepy doctor.
The woman looked annoyed. Which was good for Naruto’s cause. She then looked slightly confused as she took in the scene of the room. Apparently she hadn’t expected Naruto to be on the floor.
“What in the world? How did you manage to break the chair?”
“I demand ANSWERS!”
Naruto screamed out, not bothering to adjust his volume even though the woman was in the room now. Naruto did pause a moment however as he considered something.
“AND RAMEN!”
The woman looked very annoyed now.
“If I get you food will you shut the hell up?”
Naruto considered this a moment. He was really hungry. Healing took a lot out of him. Not to mention he hadn’t had anything but an apple in like 24 hours now.
“Maybe. it’s a start.”
Naruto grumbled.
The woman rolled her eyes at him.
“Alright I’ll have someone bring you food. Just…behave will you.”
Naruto kicked his legs. He was starting to get a blood rush due to his almost upside down position.
“How did you break the chair?”
The woman asked again as she took the hint and walked over to help him up. However she did so very carefully. She just grabbed the chair and righted it. Metal moaned as it was forced to bend back to shape. Naruto frowned as he realized she wasn’t going to give him an opportunity to try anything. She didn’t untie him and she didn’t make it so he could stand up. He was exactly where he had been a few moments ago.
“How is Hinata?”
He asked, giving up on the annoying angle for now. Maybe if he was serious they might give him answers. The woman paused, brown eyes shifting to study him a moment.
“I don’t know.”
The woman finally straightened up as the chair was upright now.
“Do you know what happened to her?”
The woman asked. Naruto shook his head.
“I don’t. I was hiding out after…well after I escaped the hospital. She found me somehow. I have no idea what happened.”
“You’re name’s Naruto right? Dr. Halsey thinks that might be Japanese. Is that where your from?”
“Er? No…I’m from Konoha. But yes my names Naruto. What’s yours?”
The woman blinked, as if she hadn’t expected him to ask that.
“I’m Spartan 087.”
“087?”
Naruto made a face. What the hell? What kind of name was 087?
“Where are we?”
He was fairly certain that this wasn’t the hospital. Or at least he assumed. What hospital had gray metal walls.
“You’re aboard a Cruiser. The Indianapolis.”
Naruto tilted his head in question.
“You’re friends injuries were horrific from what I heard. They didn’t have the equipment or experience at the hospital so you were both brought aboard. The Indianapolis has the most state of the art medical facilities in the UNSC.”
Naruto swallowed a pain of regret and guilt rising in his chest. It was his fault she had gone looking for him and now…
Wait…Shikamaru…Lee!
Naruto forced himself not to panic. In the frenzy over getting Hinata to safety and getting captured again he had forgotten about them.
Glancing up Naruto put the thought of his friends deep down. He wouldn’t tell these people about them, especially the creepy doctor. He had no idea what these people were going to do with them. He wouldn’t trust them.
Shikamaru and Lee were better off on their own for now.
“Can I see her?”
Naruto could see that 087 was studying him. No doubt she was wondering if he was going to try anything. Naruto worked on his best innocent pout. Not something he had to use a lot, but it was useful whenever Iruka-sensei caught him doing something.
“Aeon?”
“Huh? What’s an Aeon?”
“I’m Aeon.”Suddenly something…appeared on the table. It looked like a human, sort of and it was transparent. So first thing through Naruto’s mind was….
“AHHHEEEEEII! A GHOST!”
Naruto screeched as he put all his strength into his legs to jump away from whatever the hell this thing was. It couldn’t be a person. It was too small…and blue. But it looked like a person, a little blue super midget girl.
The chair screamed in protest as Naruto slamed himself backwards. Finally the bolts had enough and they broke…sending Naruto crashing into the wall.
“You know what. I think I’m offended.”
Aeon casually mentioned as she crossed her tiny arms.
Naruto was still trying to get up. Not a very easy job considering the room was spinning from yet another blow to his head, and his hand were still tied behind his back.
Kelly stood ready, gun up but the safety still on. She allowed the boy to do whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t try to attack her or escape. She couldn’t believe it. He had ripped the bolts out of the floor. So that’s how he broke his chair when she first came in. He had tried to escape and only managed to knock the chair over.
He’s strong, and fast to. He was on the other side of the room before I realized what was going on. I don’t think he’s as fast as I am. But its still amazing. Maybe Dr. Halsey is right about this kid.
“Haven’t you ever seen an AI before?”
Aeon asked loudly trying to get the kids attention. Seriously that boy needed to be on Ritalin or something. Naruto paused then shook his head no slowly.
“Are you a ghost?”
“Er?”That was one question Aeon never thought she would have to answer.
“Of course not. I’m a AI…”At the boys confused look she explained.
“Artificial Intelligence. Basically I’m a really…really smart computer.”
Naruto shifted over to the table. Kelly wasn’t sure how he did it, with the chair still attached to him, but he managed to bring himself up enough to poke his head just over the table.
“A computer? You’re not a computer. Computers are square.”
Aeon sighed frustrated.
“This isn’t me. This form is just a hologram.”
Naruto didn’t look convinced.
“So you’re not a ghost?”
“yes.”
“Yes you’re a ghost?”Naruto eyes got wide again.
“What? NO, I am NOT a ghost.”
“You’re a computer?”
“Yes. Sort of I‘m a Smart AI”
“A computer.”Naruto continued.
“That looks like a human girl.”
“This is just a hologram. All AI’s chose one. It allows us to better interact with Humans.”“A little girl with transparent blue skin?”
Aeon paused for a long moment.
“I didn’t think it was possible.”
She finally stated as she touched her forehead.
“Congrads Kitten. You’re the first person to ever give an AI a ‘headache’.”
Kelly smirked. She really shouldn’t find this funny, but it wasn’t often a person could frustrate an AI so.
“Heeeey.”
Naruto started as he did probably the best imitation of a bird with ruffled feathers Kelly had ever seen. Hell even his hair seemed to get ruffled.
“WHO YOU Calling a KITTEN! I Am Uzumaki NARUTO!! I’m the greatest smartest and fastest Ninja of Konoha!! I’m going to be Hokage someday! And Hokage’s are not called KITTENS!”
Kelly pinged a button on the inside of her helmet. It started to record as the boy sprouted jibberish. She had no idea what half of what he said meant. But she made sure to record it just in case the rooms camera’s missed it.
“Well..”
Aeon said looking smug.
“Well you look like a kitten. Whiskers and all!”
“Grrr.”
Kelly raised an eyebrow as she made sure she got that. Why the hell would a boy growl? That wasn’t normal.
“Aeon.”
Kelly said, reminding the AI why she was even here to begin with. The AI paused, she was rather enjoying messing with the boy. She wished every human was so vocal and animated. To many were like robots in the military. Less human than even she was.
“Right right. Sorry. Um about the girl. She’s in recovery. The operation to stop the bleeding was successful….hmm wait…well that’s not good.”
The tiny AI stated as she closed her eyes. Kelly noticed that the boy was instantly focused on her the moment she mentioned the girl.
Despite how angry and offended he had been it was put aside with ease.
Interesting.
“Seems they tried to flash clone the girls eyes. They were damaged rather badly. The cloning didn’t hold.”Aeon opened her eyes, although data continued to roll across her skin. She was like Cortana that way. In fact Kelly had a suspicion that she had chosen her form because of Cortana. She wondered a moment if AI’s could feel family ties and if those ties meant anything. Granted AI’s especially smart ones were very human, but in the end they were just that, AI’s…Artificial.
“Seems the girl has the same abnormal blood type as the boy. This abnormality seems to be causing the cloning process difficulties. Dr. Halsey had to go in manually to close all the ruptured blood vessels in the girls eyes.”
“but she’s in recovery right? She’s going to be ok?”
Naruto said not really understanding much. He didn’t know what flash cloning was or what blood type meant but that hardly mattered.
“Yes. She should be alright.”
Aeon said.
“In fact. She’s might be awake. I’ll have to get authorization. But I’ll see if we can’t schedule a visit.”
Naruto blinked, then smiled.
“Thanks.”
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Temari sat back as Eevre Eeroemee discussed battle plans with some others of his kind.
They called themselves Sangheili’s although Eevre had mentioned the humans called them elites. Elites was easier to say although Temari felt that perhaps calling them that would be a mistake. These creatures seemed like a very proud race, fighting for honor and glory kind of thing.
She knew, that even if no disrespect was intended by calling them elites, they would still feel it. Even if Eevre had pretty much given her permission to call them that by telling her what humans called them to begin with. They would still take offense.
So Sangheili it was. Temari watched the Sangheili’s carefully, the grunts to. She didn’t know what she was looking for, or even if there was a real reason to study them. Maybe it was just because she’d never seen ‘aliens’ before. Hell before today she didn’t even know what an alien was. It amazed her, that a culture could develop in the dark night sky. That the little stars that shone at night were actually like the sun, only so far that they looked so small. And that a lot of those suns had planets around them like earth. Places were creatures could live and survive and grow.
One of the Grunts had told her all that. He had told her a lot. Although Temari could tell he was surprised by her lack of knowledge about the Covenant or any of the stuff she asked about. The little guy had even shown her how to work the ‘plasma gun’ weapons they had. Was simple enough. Of course she preferred her own weapons, kunai’s, shurikens and her fan…but sadly she didn’t have any of those things. She had asked about her weapons but the grunt told her that nothing like that had been found when they took her.
“I’ll take four. I heard that the interrogator is done for the night. So there should only be the guards. You take the humans and get ready for departure.”
Temari perked up hearing them talk about her.
“Wait a moment.”
Temari said interrupting the planning. Up until now she had let them do all the thinking and planning. After all they were the ones that knew what dangers were ahead. However, when it came to Gaara, Temari was the one in the know. There was no way she was going to just sit back and wait in the ship while these renegades risked their lives to save her brother.
“I’m going with you.”
She said in a tone that said she would not take no as an answer. Eevre glanced at his second in command before turning back to her.
“It is not wise. You are a human.”
“And?”
Surely he had a better argument than that. The elite shook his head as he tried to explain and appease her.
“I am sorry. But you can not come with us. It will be hard enough to get by without detection. We can not have a human with us.”
Temari crossed her arms. “Gaara will not come quietly. Things could go very badly unless I am there to calm him.”
Both stared at each other, a battle of wills going on. Everyone Temari noticed had stopped what they were doing to watch the by play.
“That may be true, but what use is it for you to calm him if we can not reach him. We can not explain a human. Even if we bind you and try to pass you off as a prisoner.”
“What about Camouflage. Doesn’t that make you invisible?”
Temari glanced at the grunt had that been teaching her. She would have to find a way to thank him later, if they survived. It was because of him that she even knew what the Sangheili’s version of camouflage was.
“The sensors will detect you. I am sorry. But you must understand, for this to be a successful raid. We must be unnoticed for as long as we can.”
Temari chewed her lip in thought. Well if she couldn’t go as she was, and couldn’t use the camouflage, maybe something else was in order.
“What about a Henge? I’m terrible at that but it should be enough. Unless of course these sensors can detect that as well.”
The Elite tilted his head again as if he was hearing something that didn’t make sense. It was probably the translation devise he had given her. A few grunts and elites could speak ‘human’ as he put it. But even they could not do so very well. It was quicker and easier to rely on the technology. Temari wasn’t sure how she felt about that. What if the devices stopped working or were destroyed. How would they communicate then. She didn’t care what Eevre or the others said. She would try her best to at least learn enough of their different tongues for the most basic thoughts.
“My apologizes…what is a He..nge..”
The elite tried to form the word but had trouble. Apparently the translation thing wasn’t perfect.
“it’s a jutsu…a very common one at that.”
Temari explained. However the elite just got more confused. Temari narrowed her eyes.
Larry didn’t know what a jutsu was either.
Temari made a simple hand seal. It was something every child learned at Ninja academy. In fact it was the first hand seal they learned. And while Temari had never been a genius at this jutsu she should be able to pull it off. Then again…she wasn’t postive. She had never tried a Elite Henge before.
“Henge!”
The Elite stepped back startled as a puff of smoke eloped Temari. He did not draw his weapon, although some of the more nervous grunts and elites did. When the smoke finally cleared, all jaws dropped. Well not so much as jaws in the elites case, but Temari was fairly sure a very large bird could fly through that gaping mouth. “By the Elder Lords above!”
Eevre muttered as he stared at the new Temari.
“Do I look ok?”
Temari asked, then paused…as she tried to get the new spit lip combo to move right when she spoke. Kind of hard, the mouth parts had separate muscles to move each one, and to get them to move together was more complicated than she expected.
She was a elite, an exact copy of Eevre actually. She felt very weird like this. On one hand a Henge was only an illusion, then on the other…it was an illusion that even fooled the body of the caster. All senses were changed to that of the new body. It was the way of the Jutsu. It made it so the caster could better pretend to be what they were. Whether it be a 9 foot elite…or a child. It might not be real, but the new body, the height, and the weird facial muscles all felt very real to Temari.
“What? Magic is this?”
Temari paused as she thought again about this.
Can it be that nobody knows what a jutsu is here? But that doesn’t make sense, everyone knows what they are. I don’t understand…how could the Ninja villages not know of these other worlds. That grunt told me the war has been going on for over 20 years. There is no way that the Sand would remain in the dark. Something is very wrong here. I’ve never heard of the Covenant, they never heard of Ninja’s. How could we possibly be so ignorant of each other.
“Its an illusion. A jutsu, it’s not magic.”
Temari tried to explain as she let the illusion drop.
“Its very common where I’m from.”
“I have…I have never seen such a thing.”
Eevre said as he tried to shake the unnerving feeling he had. That girl had looked just like him. If this Illusion could fool the sensors then he could only imagine what could be done. Granted it probably wouldn’t pass a genetic tester, but there were other ways around that.
“Temari. Would it be possible to teach this skill to my people?”
“Err?”
Temari thought as she looked at the elites hands.
“I’m not sure. It requires hand seals, You’re hands are so different from mine.”
She explained showing the hand seal to him.
“Also you will have to ask the Kazekage. I don‘t have the authority to authorize the teaching of any jutsu.”
The elite paused, then nodded. It was a fair thing. If she couldn’t teach him, then she couldn’t. Right now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
“Of course.”
“So I’m going?”
Eevre nodded.
“You may come with us. Although it would probably be better to copy a grunt. That way it is unlikely the guards will try to interact with you.”
Eevre smiled.
“You made a good impersonation…but your body language and speech left no doubt.”
Temari shrugged.
“Hey I was proud of it, that was probably the most complicated Henge I’ve ever done.”
Eevre motioned to one of the grunts. He spoke to the tiny creature quietly for a few minutes. He then spoke louder, to Temari.
“You will need to copy this Ungoy. He will tell you everything you need to know for this illusion. Be quick, we will leave within the hour.
“You got it.”
“You go in my place?”
The grunt asked, he seemed rather relieved. Again Temari was surprised at how…human these creatures emotions were. While they looked nothing like a human she could still read their faces with little effort. Granted the elites were harder to read thanks to the split lip thing. But even with that feature she could tell when they smiled, or when they looked confused. Temari smiled at the grunt. This was the same one that had been talking to her earlier. This wasn’t much, but taking his place would be part of the debt she felt she owed the tiny creature. The way the elites talked, she was probably saving his life.
“Yes, now tell me everything I will need to know.”
Temari made herself comfortable as the Grunt did the same. He started to talk, explaining the caste system and how she would be expected to act.
Temari absorbed it all. The more he talked the more she became alarmed. She had thought she had observed enough of these renegades to get by. But from what the little grunt was telling her…the Covenant was nothing like them. She would have to forget everything she had learned about the interactions. Luckily for her, another grunt was coming as well.
He walked over to them, and joined the conversation. He was going to be the second grunt going and since it was his skin if Temari messed up, he wanted to help in her study.
Don’t make eye contact. If anything happens run behind the elites.
Temari frowned, she didn’t like the idea of turning her back on anything. However the grunt went on to say it was expected. The elites by tradition had to be the first in battle. Even if it meant the grunts got shot in the back running behind them.
There was a lot to know and do, however Temari was an expert. This wouldn’t be the first time she had gone uncover and hopefully it wouldn’t be the last.
The hour seemed over very quickly.
“Are you ready?”
Temari nodded, then with a breath and a hand seal she used henge to become the grunt. It was easier than the Elites, but it felt even weirder being so short.
“Will this do?”
Eevre looked her over critically.
“Yes, I believe it will. Just don’t speak. The guards will know you are not right if you speak in the human tongue.”
Temari nodded.
Eevre turned toward the other Renegades. They all had tense and worried expressions of their faces.
“We all swore an oath…an oath we broke, but the prophets betrayed us first. Good Journey my brothers, may the gods of old allow us to meet again.”
With that Eevre, his second in command, Temari and a grunt walked out.
On the way, they passed by the hallway where the dead grunt had been. Temari was slightly surprised that the body was gone.
“We cleaned up.”
Eevre muttered just loud enough for Temari to hear. She glanced up at him but didn’t say anything. It made sense that they would clean the dead body up. After all a dead body would surely have caused security to be tightened and all kinds of problems for them.
The ship they were on must have been huge. The grunt had told her what a ship was. Apparently their term ship was vastly different that the ships Temari knew of. Rather than floating in water, a ship flew in the skies and space. The grunt had taken great pains to warn her about something called decompression. That she couldn’t live in space and that any hole in the hull was a very bad thing.
They had been walking for what felt like forever, when finally they came to what looked like a security checkpoint.
“Eevre Eeroemee? What are you doing here?”
The Sangheili asked its expression that of mild confusion. “I’ve got orders from the Prophets for the Interrogator.”
The Sangheili shifted slightly. Temari could tell he didn’t quite believe the Eevre but he also didn’t want to cause any problems.
“I wasn’t told you were coming. The interrogator isn’t here.”
The elite looked at them all, his eyes rested on Temari a moment. She averted her gaze as told, and shifted as if wishing she were somewhere else.
They seemed to pass inspection. Or rather the elite probably had decided that whatever the real reason for them being here, it was most likely classified and thus not for him to know…or ask questions about.
The elite turned and started to punch in a code on a doors panel. As soon as the door whooshed open…Eevre hit the warrior over the head with his weapon. The elite didn’t even make a sound as he hit the ground…out cold.
“Tie and gag him.”
Eevre looked at the warrior with sorrow in his eyes.
“You will wish that I killed you. Instead of subjecting you to this failure.”
Temari walked up to him although she didn’t say anything.
“Instead, I leave the future open, so that perhaps…”
Eevre didn’t continue, instead he turned and walked away.
“This door will lead us to the holding cells”
“Holding cells? Is there anyone other than my brother there?”
Temari asked surprised. For some reason it hadn’t occurred to her that there would be other cells beside her brothers.
“I’m not sure. The Covenant doesn’t often take prisoners.”
Eevre opened the door, gun up and ready incase there were others stationed to watch the dangerous one. However the hallway proved to be empty.
The others stayed behind, just in case, as Temari and Eevre hurried down the hallway.
In the other room Temari had a sense of de'ja'vu. the room looked exactly like the one she had escaped from.
“I believe the red haired one is at the end.”
Temari nodded as she waddled carefully. She didn’t quite believe things were this easy.
Surely the Covenant had more than one guard for the holding cells.
Then again, why would they…the prisoners couldn’t get out. And I doubt they thought of renegades teaming up with the enemy to spring them.
Looking into the first cell Temari looked away. Inside was a slaughtered man. It was disgusting, his guts had be sprayed everywhere, and from what Temari could see there was evidence that something had taken bites out of him.
“Jackals”
Eevre muttered disgust in his voice.
Temari didn’t know what a Jackal was…and she didn’t want to know. Whatever had killed that man had made a huge mess.
The next three cells proved to be empty. However the fourth.
“Gaara!”
Temari cried as she looked upon her brother. Eevre reached forward to turn the shield off. Temari grabbed his arm.
“Hold on.”
“Why?”
“He’s not here. I have to make him see me.”
Eevre frowned then looked at the human closer. It was a mass of Striker marks and bruises. Eevre winced, he didn’t think he’d ever seen a creature with more marks on it. However there was something else about the human, it seemed cold, Eevre could actually feel a chill looking at the child. It wasn’t looking at them. In fact its eyes looked far away.
“Gaara…brother. Can you hear me.”
Temari released the jutsu.
“Gaara!”
The human looked up. Its eyes still far away. It stared for a long moment. Eevre felt his warrior instincts pricked. For such a…unimposing looking human. Fragile would probably be the better word, there was still something, something very dangerous about it.
“Temari?”
It finally whispered. It blinked, and the dangerous feel disappeared replaced by a cool indifference.
“Are you a prisoner to?”
“No. We’re here to get you out.”
The human’s gaze drifted to Eevre. It stared at him, the unblinking stare was kind of creepy. Finally it nodded. It didn’t ask questions or make a fuss. Eevre was impressed. It took a great deal of trust to accept Temari’s words like that. Especially given the situation. “Ok open the door.”
Eevre did that and Temari rushed to her brothers side. Kneeling down beside him she gently touched his face with her hands, examining the bruising and the obviously broken nose.
“Oh Gaara.”
She whispered as she licked her thumb then tried to wipe away some of the blood. Temari didn’t even think how Gaara might take it. This was something she had done all the time to Kankuro. It was a older sister thing. Something she had learned from her mother who always fussed over them.
Gaara didn’t move, didn’t blink as he stared at his sister.
“It hurt.”
Temari bit her lip.
“I’m sorry Gaara.”
Gaara reached up, mimicking her touch as he placed his hand against her cheek.
“I know pain.”
Temari swallowed as she tried not to cry. God damn it she was to old for this shit. However despite the fact that Gaara was a monster, a killing machine, he was her little brother. She loved him and felt somewhat protective of him. Before when he had kept her at a distance she had tried to protect him from himself, now more so than ever.
Temari placed Gaara’s arm over her shoulder.
“Can you stand?”
“Yes.”He muttered without feeling. She could feeling his muscles tremble at the strain of even standing. She wasn’t a weakling however and was able to handle the weight.
“Alright. Eevre.”
Eevre stood back as Temari and Gaara left the cell.
“We must hurry. This way, we will escape through the back.”
“What about the other two?”
“They have already departed toward the ship.”
Temari nodded as she shifted Gaara’s weight. He didn’t seem to be paying the conversation any mind. Although Temari knew he would ask her about it later.
They hurried down the hall, passing by several empty…or blood soaked cells. The one at the very end however…it was different.
Temari had almost missed it. The person had been huddled in a darkened corner. From what Temari could tell she was asleep.
“Wait.”
Temari said.
“We do not have time to wait. The doors to these cells have triggers. Someone no doubt has been alerted that one has opened. If we are lucky they might think it a malfuntion…but we still can not wait.”
Temari tilted her head toward the cell. Eevre eyed the cell and human as he realized what Temari wanted.
“We do not have time.”
Temari sent him a glare. He blinked and stood a little taller at the look.
“I don’t care we aren’t going to leave her here.”
“This is not wise.”
“We can’t just leave her!”
“She is injured. She will slow us down.”
Temari frowned harshly at Eevre she opened her mouth to say something but never got the chance.
“Open the door.”
A soft unhurried voice spoke. Both Eevre and Temari looked down at Gaara in surprise.
He was staring at Eevre, which made the elite nervous. Didn’t this human ever blink.
Eevre sighed, he didn’t like this. They were only supposed to set one free. No doubt whoever had been sent the alert would realize something very wrong was happening when the second door was opened. The entire ship would be alerted.
Eevre’s jaws twitched, finally he reached forward and pressed a button. The shielding over the door disappeared. The woman seemed to wake up, although she didn’t turn to look at them.
“I’ve already told you bastards!”
The woman muttered…
“I’m not telling you a thing!”
Eevre did not speak since the woman didn’t have a translation device. Instead he bent over and with his considerable strength picked up the woman.
This seemed to surprise her as she suddenly started to struggle.
“Let go of me!”
“Hey calm down!”
Temari said.
The woman looked her way, he gaze lingering on the weapon strapped to Temari‘s side. She then looked to the elite who was also armed, she seemed very confused.
“Lets leave the questions for later. Can you walk?”
“I…I think so.”
“Good, now lets get the hell out of here.”
Eevre set the human down. She didn’t try to run much to her credit. However she looked very weary.
Eevre said something the woman couldn’t understand, Temari translated.
“He said, can we trust you not to shoot him if he gave you weapon.”
Temari gave the woman a serious look.
“We’re expecting trouble very soon. We could use the help, can we trust you?”
“Can I trust you!!?”
The woman shot back. Temari smiled.
“Haven’t killed you yet.”
The woman glanced between them then finally nodded. Eevre tossed her a needler.
“What’s your name?”
The woman asked as she made sure the needler was in good working order. She gave Eevre an untrusting look but didn’t try anything.
“Temari, this is Gaara…You?”
“Miranda…Commander Miranda Keyes of the In Amber Clad.”
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“OW ow OWW! Careful that hurt!”
Lee cried out as Shikamaru and Church tried to as carefully as they could peel the burned cloth off of Lee’s back.
Both winced at the extensive burn as finally they managed to get the cloth off. That in itself wasn’t an easy task as the material was pretty much melted into what was left of Lee’s shoulder.
“No to bad. I’ve seen a Hunter to worse.”
Church said as he tried to comfort the boy. Lee had just gotten back, something Church couldn’t believe. How would have thought that someone could be a match for Hunters unarmed? Lee had given them a run down of what happened. A simple debriefing that under normal circumstances Church would have admired. No bragging, no unnecessary facts, just what happened in the quickest way possible. Right now though it annoyed Church. He wanted to know why, how when what? But he refrained…the boy was hurt. Questions later.
With a sigh Church cracked open his medical kit once again. They were getting low on supplies. Counting the weirdo Lee, they had two plasma burns, and one amputation.
The bio foam can used for Tucker was completely out now. Church only hoped the foam held. If not they would have to tie the stump to prevent bleeding and that could do more harm than good.
“Here.”
Church said as he handed Shikamaru a tube of burn ointment.
This Lee person…he couldn’t be human. The way he had batted the hunters around. He had hit the mega ton creature and it literally flew across the street. He had bent metal with his bare hands, and apparently had fought and won against two Hunters and the Phantom that had been trailing them.
He really wished he had stuck around to watch that. At this point the didn’t give a damn about where these people came from. They had saved their lives several times at this point and were powerful. He would have given everything he had to watch Lee kick the Covenants ass.
Sadly though, Lee’s ignorance of Covenant weaponry had lead to a rather large and painful wound. The entire left shoulder was burned. He had been hit on the back side, and the plasma had rounded about to the front. A few smaller burns decorated his face and neck, although they were small, barely first degree. The shoulder burn however…it was defiantly 3rd. The skin was nothing but a charred black husk.
Shikamaru rubbed the ointment on as carefully as he could. It had some mild pain reliever in it, although not near enough for this kind of burn. Hopefully it would keep it from getting infected until Lee could be seen by a doctor.
“Kami Lee.”
Shikamaru muttered.
“Why didn’t you duck!”
Lee smiled, although it was overcastted by pain.
“I did…I thought I did at least. I wasn’t expecting it. Never seen weapons like that before.”
“Well, your bad judgment is going to cost you your bowl cut.”
Shikamaru commented as he brushed his hand through what was left of Lee’s hair. The plasma blast had burned a huge hunk of it off. Leaving Lee’s head looking almost like a Q-ball…a torched one at that.
Church was quick to speak when he noticed how close Lee was to crying. Apparently the horrible hair cut meant a lot to the weird guy.
“Hair is replaceable. Just be glad you got side swiped. I’ve seen a direct Hunter blast go through a tanks armor.”
“Hurts like a bitch doesn’t it.”
Simmons commented from his sitting place a few feet over. He had been watching and listening to the entire conversation.
“Simmons, mind your language.”
Church ordered although the little girl was to far away to hear. She was over by her parents still traumatized by the almost getting stepped on.
“Sorry Sir.”
Simmons muttered as he watched Shikamaru stand up. They had been through hell the last few days. It was taking forever to get anywhere with the heavy patrols. They would go a ways, the Shikamaru would leave them to scout ahead. Depending on what he saw they would continue or take a detour.
It was…disgusting. But they had been forced to steal and eat twice from shops that contained dead bodies.
In the background the little girl sniffled.
“Lets get going.”
Church said as he realized the down and out mood that was oozing out of everyone.
This was hell.
“We’re not too far are we?”
Tucker asked as he noticed the others getting up. Church smiled at his fellow marines as he helped him up. Tucker had lost a lot of blood, but he was a hardy bastard and was clinging to everything he had. Church let him lean against him.
“Not to much farther. We’ll get you to a hospital and before you know it you’ll have a brand new flash cloned hand.”
“Yep with soft skin and everything.”
Tucker took a swipe at Simmons with his good hand although the marine was more than fast enough to avoid it. They all chuckled at the crude joke.
It took a few minutes to get everyone up and ready. Church and Shikamaru were taking point, the civilians in the middle, Simmons and Tucker followed them, and then even farther back watching them all was Lee.
“Do you think the Covenant has given up yet?”
Church asked in a low voice. The city seemed deserted but he knew better. He was starting to trust the two boys more. It seemed they knew where the Covenant was before anyone. They also seemed rather good as dodging them as the group hadn’t gotten caught yet.
“No. Their still out there. I think we’ve managed to evade most of them though.”
“We can’t keep going like this.”
It was true, Tucker looked like death. Lee and Simons had to get into a hospital or risk more than just infection. Without being cleaned by a special substance, the residue from a plasma burn could poison the blood. Simons wound was older, but Lee had gotten hit far worst.
“I know.”
Shikamaru said after a long pause.
“From what Hinata told me yesterday…”
Shikamaru paused as he mentioned his missing friend. Church could see how much the black haired young man hated leaving her behind. A sharp shake of the head and all emotion disappeared from Shikamaru’s face. Replacing with the normal ‘I don’t care I’m lazy’ attitude that he usually went with.
“She said about a days walk from the hotel. I’m guess we can’t be more than few hours…if nothing happens.”
“Its that IF that has me worried.”Church muttered almost to himself as he clutched his gun in paranoia.
“The Covenant has tripled its presence in the last hour or so.”
Shikamaru continued.
“Do you think your forces might come out here to try to at least try and find out what is happening?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe?”
Shikamaru turned slightly and stared hard at Church. Despite being the commanding officer here Church had the strong feeling that the boy was measuring him up.
“You don’t think we’ll last another night?”
The boy asked. Church blinked surprised. He didn’t say that, all he said was that they couldn’t keep on like this. Could this kid read his mind, after all he saw today he wouldn’t doubt it.
“Plasma burns are worse than just burns.”
Church finally said keep his voice down.
“it’s a type of radiation poisoning.”
Shikamaru scratched his chin.
“I thought your man was looking unnaturally pale. How bad is this poisoning?”
“Lethal. For Lee it’ll happen quicker. He got a way bigger dose of it. I…I don’t think either one will survive the night if we don’t get them to a hospital.”
Shikamaru’s face didn’t change, not a flicker of emotion passed over it at this statement, however Church noticed the way his Adam apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
“We need to see what’s going on.”
Shikamaru finally said.
“You guys stay here. Me and Lee are hitting the high ground.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
Church asked as he remembered those damn banshee’s that flew over every now and again. Luckily for them the noise produced by the machines gave them ample warning to go and hide. He also didn’t really like how Shikamaru kept giving orders. He was just a kid….then again. Church had to admit the kid was good. A natural leader, and the way Lee acted toward him showed a lot of respect.
That girl had been the same way. I might be the highest ranking officer, but those kids looked to this one.
Thus far it had been Shikamaru that had kept them alive. It was Shikamaru that had saved them from that elite that cut off Tuckers hand. It was Shikamaru that was leading them out of this hell hole. He was the one keeping them out of Covenant hands.
Church finally nodded. To the question and to himself.
He might just be a kid, but he knew what he was doing. Church wasn’t so insecure about himself that he couldn’t see that Shikamaru was the better leader here.
He would do as he said, until he saw reason not to.
“Yes, but it’s a risk we have to take.”
Shikamaru didn’t say it, but Church knew what he was saying. It was a risk they had to take for Lee and Simmons sake, hell for Tuckers sake as well.
With that Shikamaru seemed to just…disappear. Church startled violently at the poof of smoke. Looking around wildly his gun safety OFF, Church for some reason felt the urge to look up. What he saw shocked him more than anything he’d seen yet.
Shikamaru was on top of the building. Granted it wasn’t a huge sky scraper or anything but it was like 6 stories high. His mouth only dropped farther as Lee went seemly flying through the air to jump on the side of one building and doing a series of jumps joined Shikamaru on the roof.
“Jesus Christ!”
Church swore.
“What kind of freaks are these guys.”
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I’ve got fanart posted on mediaminer I go under gloriastone82. Got a pic of the new armor as well as an explanation for it.
Oh and before I forget, I have seen Naruto up to like episode 172 or something, I think that’s at about the bug thing. I don‘t really remember. Anyway the point of this is to say that I know nothing, well almost nothing about Gaara’s kidnapping and so forth. Some of my facts may be different than the facts in the show. Lets just go with the excuse of I don’t know better. It shouldn’t matter to much anyway as this story takes place before all that stuff. I’m ignoring my ignorance right now since I don’t wanna spoil the surprise when I finally have money to buy the dvds.
000000000
I am here. In a prison of darkness. For years I have seen nothing, I have smelled nothing, I felt nothing.
So dark, so long, I sometimes wonder how I have managed for so many years. Any other creature would have long ago succumbed.
Yes I was sealed,
Yes I am imprisoned.
NO I will not be caged forever. I can escape.
However escape would mean my death. I think…I think I would rather be in the dark.
At least here, sometimes that boy comes to see me. And lately the cage that separates us has blurred a little. Apparently giving him my charka is effecting both of us in ways I never thought possible.
I used to hate the boy. Hated him with a passion I had rarely felt. But since he has allowed…well I think ‘allowed’ is the word. I’m not sure he’s even aware he’s doing it. But he has allowed me to see the world through his senses. He has cracked the cage a little. Its nice, seeing the world I had almost forgotten.
It makes me hate him less. Its to the point we can actually talk sometimes.
Its been so long since I just ‘talked’ to someone that I surprised myself that I remembered the language.
It was not the boys fault.
The Kyuubi shifted within its prison, an amused smile on its face.
How little they all knew. How little the boy knew about himself, and about the ones around him. It was amusing but also kind of sad.
They were the last, 8 humans and two demons.
Only the two demons knew the truth…well at least he did. The Kyuubi wasn’t sure but he would bet that Shukaku had long ago lost its mind…er if he had any to begin with.
The fox had known Shukaku long ago, before he had become the demon spirit. There hadn’t been a lot of sanity then either.
They hadn’t always been demons. Long long ago, centuries in fact, they had had bodies. They had been, well they hadn’t exactly been mortal, but they weren’t demons either.
They had walked the earth like any human.
But to escape death they had to become more. They had forsaken their bodies, and merged with the wild energies that had saturated the world around them.
Skukaku had taken the likeness of a Tanuki. Becoming a demon of blood and insanity.
He had become the fox. Clever and wild, he had become a demon of war. Constantly fighting, surrounded in fire, hate and rage.
Again the Kyuubi shifted. It was restless and slightly annoyed. Apparently Naruto had done something stupid and the ones in black had given him a ‘love tap’. There was no damage, only sleep and the fox was left alone in the darkness that came whenever his vessel slept.
If only Naruto knew the common thread they shared. If he knew that he wasn’t completely…human. Not to say that he wasn’t human, but he was more than just that at the same time, and it actually had nothing to do with the fox inside his gut.
Naruto belonged to an ancient bloodline. Far older than anything most of Konoha could claim. His ancestor had been the same as the fox had once been.
Unlike Shukaku and the Kyuubi however, who decided to become demons and thus immortal. Some had decided to become humans. They had changed, found mates and raised families….then they died.
Slowly over the years, the bloodlines died one by one. The mixed blood made it…well some were infertile, others simply could only have only one or two children. Mix that with the ninja lifestyle and one can imagine how the bloodlines died out.
However all of this didn’t really matter. What did matter was that they were all in horrible danger. At first he hadn’t been too worried…until he heard through Naruto’s ears about the Covenant.
He had forgotten a lot when he had become a demon. That was the sacrifice, the mind no matter how willful or smart was in the end, the weakest point in anyone’s body. His mind had lost a lot in the merging. Shukaku had totally lost it. Becoming almost mindless.
However…now the Kyuubi was starting to remember. He had gone deep into Naruto’s body and had lain in the darkness trying to remember more.
He remembered the flood, he remembered the Tej Ved. But he simply could not remember why he knew these things.
He knew the flood was a horrible terrible force. Capable of wiping out everything. He distinctly remembered the rotting bloated bodies and the tentacles of the parasites.
But why did he remember?
Thus far he was unable to link the pieces together.
He did know one thing thought. The Tej Ved would be able to help.
They were in this strange world because something was broken.
Something very important.
The fox shook itself. It wondered if Naruto would follow its advise if he realized how little the fox actually knew. Still…the more he sat and thought the more he remembered.
Maybe by the time Naruto found the Tej Ved he would remember the rest.
For now, all he could do was wait. Wait for Naruto to wake up, wait for things to get rolling.
“Oh my head.”
Naruto muttered as he started to come around. His head hurt, a pounding throbbing stab to his temples. What the hell?
Oh ya…bastards hit me.
Shaking his head Naruto slowly became aware of his surroundings.
One he was in a chair, a very uncomfortable chair at that. It was made of some kind of metal. With a very straight back which his arms were currently handcuffed behind.
Shifting slightly Naruto found out that yes his butt was numb.
And no he couldn’t move the chair, it seemed the stupid thing was bolted to the floor or something. Naruto pulled on the cuffs holding his hands behind him. The metal cuffs were uncomfortable, but they didn’t bite to much. Naruto had been bound before with much less comfortable stuff. There was this rope that Jiryaya used that would literally skin you alive if you didn’t know how to work with it.
Damn! His head hurt. Naruto took a moment to try and remember what happened. He had gotten caught again.
Kankuro was going to kill him.
Then he had started yelling. Stuff about black clad bastards attacking him and how they had better not hurt Hinata.
Oh ya…I tried to head butt on of them. I think they knocked me out after that.
Naruto smiled. That had been funny. The look on that mans face when Naruto had very nearly smashed his head into his. Naruto had a thick skull and helmet or not, he had been determined to make the bastard hurt.
Glancing around the room Naruto was sorely disappointed in the decor. It was a very simple, very plain, very boring gray room. In fact the walls looked like some sort of metal. There were no windows and the only furniture was two chairs and a small table. Oh that and the video camera’s.
They were well hidden, but Naruto could clearly hear the whirling of machinery. For the next few minutes Naruto made a game of spotting the cameras. He made good use of his new eyesight doing this. He could actually see the tiny pinpoints in the wall across the room. It was kind of fun, that and it passed the time. He wondered when someone was going to come and get him. Surely they didn’t plan to just leave him in the room.
Very quickly spot the camera game became boring.
Hm looks like the table is bolted down too.
Naruto pondered as he stared at the floor. He wondered if the bolts were stronger than the one in his chair. If he could just stand up he might be able to wiggle his arms in front of him rather than in the back. That way he could form hand seals if needed.
Scooting back as far as he could in his chair Naruto lifted his legs up and placed his feet against the table. The position was very uncomfortable as Naruto’s knees were literally in his face. It was rather awkward as well, he kind of wondered if he had to leverage needed to do this. Pushing hard against the table, Naruto wiggled his chair trying to weaken the bolts holding him down. At first nothing happened as Naruto grunted and pushed as hard as he could.
Ok, this is harder than it looks. One two HEAVE!
Naruto pushed again. The table and chair didn’t seem to give an inch.
One two heave!
The second time however….the bolts holding down the chair broke with a suddenly metal wrenching snap. It was so suddenly that Naruto yelped startled as his chair fell backwards with all the strength had had been pushing with. He slammed into the floor, making little stars dance in front of his eyes.
“Ow the back of my head!”
That had hurt more than he expected. And he thought that his head hurt before.
Not only that but apparently he had only broken the bolts on the front of the chair, the back legs had merely bent backwards. So here he was, still unable to stand up or get his hands in front of him, with an added bonus of laying on the floor his legs draped over the most uncomfortable chair in the world.
Silence rang through the small room as Naruto just laid there for a moment.
“I’m hungry.”
He said to himself just to break the silence.
“HEY! I KNOW YOUR WATCHING!! FEEED ME DAMNIT!! HHEEEEY HEY HEY HEY HEY!!!”
Naruto prided himself on his annoyance factor. After all he was a prankster at heart and annoying people till they cracked was the greatest joke ever.
So he screamed, demanding Ramen and demanding that someone tell him where he was and where Hinata was. On top of all the ranting he demanded a more comfy chair. He kicked his legs in the air at that for extra emphasis.
When no one answered Naruto started to kick at the table. It made a wonderfully loud thunk that seem to vibrate in the air so he hit it again, then again all the while screaming at the top of his lungs.
Suddenly a door swished open.
Hey that was kind of cool. It like was automatic. Whoooosh. Whooosh
Naruto frowned however as the person coming through the door turned out to be one of the assholes that had shot at him.
Hm not the ones that first captured me though. One had been a large man, the other a red head. This is a woman, hmm Ah yes she had been the one protecting the creepy doctor.
The woman looked annoyed. Which was good for Naruto’s cause. She then looked slightly confused as she took in the scene of the room. Apparently she hadn’t expected Naruto to be on the floor.
“What in the world? How did you manage to break the chair?”
“I demand ANSWERS!”
Naruto screamed out, not bothering to adjust his volume even though the woman was in the room now. Naruto did pause a moment however as he considered something.
“AND RAMEN!”
The woman looked very annoyed now.
“If I get you food will you shut the hell up?”
Naruto considered this a moment. He was really hungry. Healing took a lot out of him. Not to mention he hadn’t had anything but an apple in like 24 hours now.
“Maybe. it’s a start.”
Naruto grumbled.
The woman rolled her eyes at him.
“Alright I’ll have someone bring you food. Just…behave will you.”
Naruto kicked his legs. He was starting to get a blood rush due to his almost upside down position.
“How did you break the chair?”
The woman asked again as she took the hint and walked over to help him up. However she did so very carefully. She just grabbed the chair and righted it. Metal moaned as it was forced to bend back to shape. Naruto frowned as he realized she wasn’t going to give him an opportunity to try anything. She didn’t untie him and she didn’t make it so he could stand up. He was exactly where he had been a few moments ago.
“How is Hinata?”
He asked, giving up on the annoying angle for now. Maybe if he was serious they might give him answers. The woman paused, brown eyes shifting to study him a moment.
“I don’t know.”
The woman finally straightened up as the chair was upright now.
“Do you know what happened to her?”
The woman asked. Naruto shook his head.
“I don’t. I was hiding out after…well after I escaped the hospital. She found me somehow. I have no idea what happened.”
“You’re name’s Naruto right? Dr. Halsey thinks that might be Japanese. Is that where your from?”
“Er? No…I’m from Konoha. But yes my names Naruto. What’s yours?”
The woman blinked, as if she hadn’t expected him to ask that.
“I’m Spartan 087.”
“087?”
Naruto made a face. What the hell? What kind of name was 087?
“Where are we?”
He was fairly certain that this wasn’t the hospital. Or at least he assumed. What hospital had gray metal walls.
“You’re aboard a Cruiser. The Indianapolis.”
Naruto tilted his head in question.
“You’re friends injuries were horrific from what I heard. They didn’t have the equipment or experience at the hospital so you were both brought aboard. The Indianapolis has the most state of the art medical facilities in the UNSC.”
Naruto swallowed a pain of regret and guilt rising in his chest. It was his fault she had gone looking for him and now…
Wait…Shikamaru…Lee!
Naruto forced himself not to panic. In the frenzy over getting Hinata to safety and getting captured again he had forgotten about them.
Glancing up Naruto put the thought of his friends deep down. He wouldn’t tell these people about them, especially the creepy doctor. He had no idea what these people were going to do with them. He wouldn’t trust them.
Shikamaru and Lee were better off on their own for now.
“Can I see her?”
Naruto could see that 087 was studying him. No doubt she was wondering if he was going to try anything. Naruto worked on his best innocent pout. Not something he had to use a lot, but it was useful whenever Iruka-sensei caught him doing something.
“Aeon?”
“Huh? What’s an Aeon?”
“I’m Aeon.”Suddenly something…appeared on the table. It looked like a human, sort of and it was transparent. So first thing through Naruto’s mind was….
“AHHHEEEEEII! A GHOST!”
Naruto screeched as he put all his strength into his legs to jump away from whatever the hell this thing was. It couldn’t be a person. It was too small…and blue. But it looked like a person, a little blue super midget girl.
The chair screamed in protest as Naruto slamed himself backwards. Finally the bolts had enough and they broke…sending Naruto crashing into the wall.
“You know what. I think I’m offended.”
Aeon casually mentioned as she crossed her tiny arms.
Naruto was still trying to get up. Not a very easy job considering the room was spinning from yet another blow to his head, and his hand were still tied behind his back.
Kelly stood ready, gun up but the safety still on. She allowed the boy to do whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t try to attack her or escape. She couldn’t believe it. He had ripped the bolts out of the floor. So that’s how he broke his chair when she first came in. He had tried to escape and only managed to knock the chair over.
He’s strong, and fast to. He was on the other side of the room before I realized what was going on. I don’t think he’s as fast as I am. But its still amazing. Maybe Dr. Halsey is right about this kid.
“Haven’t you ever seen an AI before?”
Aeon asked loudly trying to get the kids attention. Seriously that boy needed to be on Ritalin or something. Naruto paused then shook his head no slowly.
“Are you a ghost?”
“Er?”That was one question Aeon never thought she would have to answer.
“Of course not. I’m a AI…”At the boys confused look she explained.
“Artificial Intelligence. Basically I’m a really…really smart computer.”
Naruto shifted over to the table. Kelly wasn’t sure how he did it, with the chair still attached to him, but he managed to bring himself up enough to poke his head just over the table.
“A computer? You’re not a computer. Computers are square.”
Aeon sighed frustrated.
“This isn’t me. This form is just a hologram.”
Naruto didn’t look convinced.
“So you’re not a ghost?”
“yes.”
“Yes you’re a ghost?”Naruto eyes got wide again.
“What? NO, I am NOT a ghost.”
“You’re a computer?”
“Yes. Sort of I‘m a Smart AI”
“A computer.”Naruto continued.
“That looks like a human girl.”
“This is just a hologram. All AI’s chose one. It allows us to better interact with Humans.”“A little girl with transparent blue skin?”
Aeon paused for a long moment.
“I didn’t think it was possible.”
She finally stated as she touched her forehead.
“Congrads Kitten. You’re the first person to ever give an AI a ‘headache’.”
Kelly smirked. She really shouldn’t find this funny, but it wasn’t often a person could frustrate an AI so.
“Heeeey.”
Naruto started as he did probably the best imitation of a bird with ruffled feathers Kelly had ever seen. Hell even his hair seemed to get ruffled.
“WHO YOU Calling a KITTEN! I Am Uzumaki NARUTO!! I’m the greatest smartest and fastest Ninja of Konoha!! I’m going to be Hokage someday! And Hokage’s are not called KITTENS!”
Kelly pinged a button on the inside of her helmet. It started to record as the boy sprouted jibberish. She had no idea what half of what he said meant. But she made sure to record it just in case the rooms camera’s missed it.
“Well..”
Aeon said looking smug.
“Well you look like a kitten. Whiskers and all!”
“Grrr.”
Kelly raised an eyebrow as she made sure she got that. Why the hell would a boy growl? That wasn’t normal.
“Aeon.”
Kelly said, reminding the AI why she was even here to begin with. The AI paused, she was rather enjoying messing with the boy. She wished every human was so vocal and animated. To many were like robots in the military. Less human than even she was.
“Right right. Sorry. Um about the girl. She’s in recovery. The operation to stop the bleeding was successful….hmm wait…well that’s not good.”
The tiny AI stated as she closed her eyes. Kelly noticed that the boy was instantly focused on her the moment she mentioned the girl.
Despite how angry and offended he had been it was put aside with ease.
Interesting.
“Seems they tried to flash clone the girls eyes. They were damaged rather badly. The cloning didn’t hold.”Aeon opened her eyes, although data continued to roll across her skin. She was like Cortana that way. In fact Kelly had a suspicion that she had chosen her form because of Cortana. She wondered a moment if AI’s could feel family ties and if those ties meant anything. Granted AI’s especially smart ones were very human, but in the end they were just that, AI’s…Artificial.
“Seems the girl has the same abnormal blood type as the boy. This abnormality seems to be causing the cloning process difficulties. Dr. Halsey had to go in manually to close all the ruptured blood vessels in the girls eyes.”
“but she’s in recovery right? She’s going to be ok?”
Naruto said not really understanding much. He didn’t know what flash cloning was or what blood type meant but that hardly mattered.
“Yes. She should be alright.”
Aeon said.
“In fact. She’s might be awake. I’ll have to get authorization. But I’ll see if we can’t schedule a visit.”
Naruto blinked, then smiled.
“Thanks.”
000000000000
Temari sat back as Eevre Eeroemee discussed battle plans with some others of his kind.
They called themselves Sangheili’s although Eevre had mentioned the humans called them elites. Elites was easier to say although Temari felt that perhaps calling them that would be a mistake. These creatures seemed like a very proud race, fighting for honor and glory kind of thing.
She knew, that even if no disrespect was intended by calling them elites, they would still feel it. Even if Eevre had pretty much given her permission to call them that by telling her what humans called them to begin with. They would still take offense.
So Sangheili it was. Temari watched the Sangheili’s carefully, the grunts to. She didn’t know what she was looking for, or even if there was a real reason to study them. Maybe it was just because she’d never seen ‘aliens’ before. Hell before today she didn’t even know what an alien was. It amazed her, that a culture could develop in the dark night sky. That the little stars that shone at night were actually like the sun, only so far that they looked so small. And that a lot of those suns had planets around them like earth. Places were creatures could live and survive and grow.
One of the Grunts had told her all that. He had told her a lot. Although Temari could tell he was surprised by her lack of knowledge about the Covenant or any of the stuff she asked about. The little guy had even shown her how to work the ‘plasma gun’ weapons they had. Was simple enough. Of course she preferred her own weapons, kunai’s, shurikens and her fan…but sadly she didn’t have any of those things. She had asked about her weapons but the grunt told her that nothing like that had been found when they took her.
“I’ll take four. I heard that the interrogator is done for the night. So there should only be the guards. You take the humans and get ready for departure.”
Temari perked up hearing them talk about her.
“Wait a moment.”
Temari said interrupting the planning. Up until now she had let them do all the thinking and planning. After all they were the ones that knew what dangers were ahead. However, when it came to Gaara, Temari was the one in the know. There was no way she was going to just sit back and wait in the ship while these renegades risked their lives to save her brother.
“I’m going with you.”
She said in a tone that said she would not take no as an answer. Eevre glanced at his second in command before turning back to her.
“It is not wise. You are a human.”
“And?”
Surely he had a better argument than that. The elite shook his head as he tried to explain and appease her.
“I am sorry. But you can not come with us. It will be hard enough to get by without detection. We can not have a human with us.”
Temari crossed her arms. “Gaara will not come quietly. Things could go very badly unless I am there to calm him.”
Both stared at each other, a battle of wills going on. Everyone Temari noticed had stopped what they were doing to watch the by play.
“That may be true, but what use is it for you to calm him if we can not reach him. We can not explain a human. Even if we bind you and try to pass you off as a prisoner.”
“What about Camouflage. Doesn’t that make you invisible?”
Temari glanced at the grunt had that been teaching her. She would have to find a way to thank him later, if they survived. It was because of him that she even knew what the Sangheili’s version of camouflage was.
“The sensors will detect you. I am sorry. But you must understand, for this to be a successful raid. We must be unnoticed for as long as we can.”
Temari chewed her lip in thought. Well if she couldn’t go as she was, and couldn’t use the camouflage, maybe something else was in order.
“What about a Henge? I’m terrible at that but it should be enough. Unless of course these sensors can detect that as well.”
The Elite tilted his head again as if he was hearing something that didn’t make sense. It was probably the translation devise he had given her. A few grunts and elites could speak ‘human’ as he put it. But even they could not do so very well. It was quicker and easier to rely on the technology. Temari wasn’t sure how she felt about that. What if the devices stopped working or were destroyed. How would they communicate then. She didn’t care what Eevre or the others said. She would try her best to at least learn enough of their different tongues for the most basic thoughts.
“My apologizes…what is a He..nge..”
The elite tried to form the word but had trouble. Apparently the translation thing wasn’t perfect.
“it’s a jutsu…a very common one at that.”
Temari explained. However the elite just got more confused. Temari narrowed her eyes.
Larry didn’t know what a jutsu was either.
Temari made a simple hand seal. It was something every child learned at Ninja academy. In fact it was the first hand seal they learned. And while Temari had never been a genius at this jutsu she should be able to pull it off. Then again…she wasn’t postive. She had never tried a Elite Henge before.
“Henge!”
The Elite stepped back startled as a puff of smoke eloped Temari. He did not draw his weapon, although some of the more nervous grunts and elites did. When the smoke finally cleared, all jaws dropped. Well not so much as jaws in the elites case, but Temari was fairly sure a very large bird could fly through that gaping mouth. “By the Elder Lords above!”
Eevre muttered as he stared at the new Temari.
“Do I look ok?”
Temari asked, then paused…as she tried to get the new spit lip combo to move right when she spoke. Kind of hard, the mouth parts had separate muscles to move each one, and to get them to move together was more complicated than she expected.
She was a elite, an exact copy of Eevre actually. She felt very weird like this. On one hand a Henge was only an illusion, then on the other…it was an illusion that even fooled the body of the caster. All senses were changed to that of the new body. It was the way of the Jutsu. It made it so the caster could better pretend to be what they were. Whether it be a 9 foot elite…or a child. It might not be real, but the new body, the height, and the weird facial muscles all felt very real to Temari.
“What? Magic is this?”
Temari paused as she thought again about this.
Can it be that nobody knows what a jutsu is here? But that doesn’t make sense, everyone knows what they are. I don’t understand…how could the Ninja villages not know of these other worlds. That grunt told me the war has been going on for over 20 years. There is no way that the Sand would remain in the dark. Something is very wrong here. I’ve never heard of the Covenant, they never heard of Ninja’s. How could we possibly be so ignorant of each other.
“Its an illusion. A jutsu, it’s not magic.”
Temari tried to explain as she let the illusion drop.
“Its very common where I’m from.”
“I have…I have never seen such a thing.”
Eevre said as he tried to shake the unnerving feeling he had. That girl had looked just like him. If this Illusion could fool the sensors then he could only imagine what could be done. Granted it probably wouldn’t pass a genetic tester, but there were other ways around that.
“Temari. Would it be possible to teach this skill to my people?”
“Err?”
Temari thought as she looked at the elites hands.
“I’m not sure. It requires hand seals, You’re hands are so different from mine.”
She explained showing the hand seal to him.
“Also you will have to ask the Kazekage. I don‘t have the authority to authorize the teaching of any jutsu.”
The elite paused, then nodded. It was a fair thing. If she couldn’t teach him, then she couldn’t. Right now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
“Of course.”
“So I’m going?”
Eevre nodded.
“You may come with us. Although it would probably be better to copy a grunt. That way it is unlikely the guards will try to interact with you.”
Eevre smiled.
“You made a good impersonation…but your body language and speech left no doubt.”
Temari shrugged.
“Hey I was proud of it, that was probably the most complicated Henge I’ve ever done.”
Eevre motioned to one of the grunts. He spoke to the tiny creature quietly for a few minutes. He then spoke louder, to Temari.
“You will need to copy this Ungoy. He will tell you everything you need to know for this illusion. Be quick, we will leave within the hour.
“You got it.”
“You go in my place?”
The grunt asked, he seemed rather relieved. Again Temari was surprised at how…human these creatures emotions were. While they looked nothing like a human she could still read their faces with little effort. Granted the elites were harder to read thanks to the split lip thing. But even with that feature she could tell when they smiled, or when they looked confused. Temari smiled at the grunt. This was the same one that had been talking to her earlier. This wasn’t much, but taking his place would be part of the debt she felt she owed the tiny creature. The way the elites talked, she was probably saving his life.
“Yes, now tell me everything I will need to know.”
Temari made herself comfortable as the Grunt did the same. He started to talk, explaining the caste system and how she would be expected to act.
Temari absorbed it all. The more he talked the more she became alarmed. She had thought she had observed enough of these renegades to get by. But from what the little grunt was telling her…the Covenant was nothing like them. She would have to forget everything she had learned about the interactions. Luckily for her, another grunt was coming as well.
He walked over to them, and joined the conversation. He was going to be the second grunt going and since it was his skin if Temari messed up, he wanted to help in her study.
Don’t make eye contact. If anything happens run behind the elites.
Temari frowned, she didn’t like the idea of turning her back on anything. However the grunt went on to say it was expected. The elites by tradition had to be the first in battle. Even if it meant the grunts got shot in the back running behind them.
There was a lot to know and do, however Temari was an expert. This wouldn’t be the first time she had gone uncover and hopefully it wouldn’t be the last.
The hour seemed over very quickly.
“Are you ready?”
Temari nodded, then with a breath and a hand seal she used henge to become the grunt. It was easier than the Elites, but it felt even weirder being so short.
“Will this do?”
Eevre looked her over critically.
“Yes, I believe it will. Just don’t speak. The guards will know you are not right if you speak in the human tongue.”
Temari nodded.
Eevre turned toward the other Renegades. They all had tense and worried expressions of their faces.
“We all swore an oath…an oath we broke, but the prophets betrayed us first. Good Journey my brothers, may the gods of old allow us to meet again.”
With that Eevre, his second in command, Temari and a grunt walked out.
On the way, they passed by the hallway where the dead grunt had been. Temari was slightly surprised that the body was gone.
“We cleaned up.”
Eevre muttered just loud enough for Temari to hear. She glanced up at him but didn’t say anything. It made sense that they would clean the dead body up. After all a dead body would surely have caused security to be tightened and all kinds of problems for them.
The ship they were on must have been huge. The grunt had told her what a ship was. Apparently their term ship was vastly different that the ships Temari knew of. Rather than floating in water, a ship flew in the skies and space. The grunt had taken great pains to warn her about something called decompression. That she couldn’t live in space and that any hole in the hull was a very bad thing.
They had been walking for what felt like forever, when finally they came to what looked like a security checkpoint.
“Eevre Eeroemee? What are you doing here?”
The Sangheili asked its expression that of mild confusion. “I’ve got orders from the Prophets for the Interrogator.”
The Sangheili shifted slightly. Temari could tell he didn’t quite believe the Eevre but he also didn’t want to cause any problems.
“I wasn’t told you were coming. The interrogator isn’t here.”
The elite looked at them all, his eyes rested on Temari a moment. She averted her gaze as told, and shifted as if wishing she were somewhere else.
They seemed to pass inspection. Or rather the elite probably had decided that whatever the real reason for them being here, it was most likely classified and thus not for him to know…or ask questions about.
The elite turned and started to punch in a code on a doors panel. As soon as the door whooshed open…Eevre hit the warrior over the head with his weapon. The elite didn’t even make a sound as he hit the ground…out cold.
“Tie and gag him.”
Eevre looked at the warrior with sorrow in his eyes.
“You will wish that I killed you. Instead of subjecting you to this failure.”
Temari walked up to him although she didn’t say anything.
“Instead, I leave the future open, so that perhaps…”
Eevre didn’t continue, instead he turned and walked away.
“This door will lead us to the holding cells”
“Holding cells? Is there anyone other than my brother there?”
Temari asked surprised. For some reason it hadn’t occurred to her that there would be other cells beside her brothers.
“I’m not sure. The Covenant doesn’t often take prisoners.”
Eevre opened the door, gun up and ready incase there were others stationed to watch the dangerous one. However the hallway proved to be empty.
The others stayed behind, just in case, as Temari and Eevre hurried down the hallway.
In the other room Temari had a sense of de'ja'vu. the room looked exactly like the one she had escaped from.
“I believe the red haired one is at the end.”
Temari nodded as she waddled carefully. She didn’t quite believe things were this easy.
Surely the Covenant had more than one guard for the holding cells.
Then again, why would they…the prisoners couldn’t get out. And I doubt they thought of renegades teaming up with the enemy to spring them.
Looking into the first cell Temari looked away. Inside was a slaughtered man. It was disgusting, his guts had be sprayed everywhere, and from what Temari could see there was evidence that something had taken bites out of him.
“Jackals”
Eevre muttered disgust in his voice.
Temari didn’t know what a Jackal was…and she didn’t want to know. Whatever had killed that man had made a huge mess.
The next three cells proved to be empty. However the fourth.
“Gaara!”
Temari cried as she looked upon her brother. Eevre reached forward to turn the shield off. Temari grabbed his arm.
“Hold on.”
“Why?”
“He’s not here. I have to make him see me.”
Eevre frowned then looked at the human closer. It was a mass of Striker marks and bruises. Eevre winced, he didn’t think he’d ever seen a creature with more marks on it. However there was something else about the human, it seemed cold, Eevre could actually feel a chill looking at the child. It wasn’t looking at them. In fact its eyes looked far away.
“Gaara…brother. Can you hear me.”
Temari released the jutsu.
“Gaara!”
The human looked up. Its eyes still far away. It stared for a long moment. Eevre felt his warrior instincts pricked. For such a…unimposing looking human. Fragile would probably be the better word, there was still something, something very dangerous about it.
“Temari?”
It finally whispered. It blinked, and the dangerous feel disappeared replaced by a cool indifference.
“Are you a prisoner to?”
“No. We’re here to get you out.”
The human’s gaze drifted to Eevre. It stared at him, the unblinking stare was kind of creepy. Finally it nodded. It didn’t ask questions or make a fuss. Eevre was impressed. It took a great deal of trust to accept Temari’s words like that. Especially given the situation. “Ok open the door.”
Eevre did that and Temari rushed to her brothers side. Kneeling down beside him she gently touched his face with her hands, examining the bruising and the obviously broken nose.
“Oh Gaara.”
She whispered as she licked her thumb then tried to wipe away some of the blood. Temari didn’t even think how Gaara might take it. This was something she had done all the time to Kankuro. It was a older sister thing. Something she had learned from her mother who always fussed over them.
Gaara didn’t move, didn’t blink as he stared at his sister.
“It hurt.”
Temari bit her lip.
“I’m sorry Gaara.”
Gaara reached up, mimicking her touch as he placed his hand against her cheek.
“I know pain.”
Temari swallowed as she tried not to cry. God damn it she was to old for this shit. However despite the fact that Gaara was a monster, a killing machine, he was her little brother. She loved him and felt somewhat protective of him. Before when he had kept her at a distance she had tried to protect him from himself, now more so than ever.
Temari placed Gaara’s arm over her shoulder.
“Can you stand?”
“Yes.”He muttered without feeling. She could feeling his muscles tremble at the strain of even standing. She wasn’t a weakling however and was able to handle the weight.
“Alright. Eevre.”
Eevre stood back as Temari and Gaara left the cell.
“We must hurry. This way, we will escape through the back.”
“What about the other two?”
“They have already departed toward the ship.”
Temari nodded as she shifted Gaara’s weight. He didn’t seem to be paying the conversation any mind. Although Temari knew he would ask her about it later.
They hurried down the hall, passing by several empty…or blood soaked cells. The one at the very end however…it was different.
Temari had almost missed it. The person had been huddled in a darkened corner. From what Temari could tell she was asleep.
“Wait.”
Temari said.
“We do not have time to wait. The doors to these cells have triggers. Someone no doubt has been alerted that one has opened. If we are lucky they might think it a malfuntion…but we still can not wait.”
Temari tilted her head toward the cell. Eevre eyed the cell and human as he realized what Temari wanted.
“We do not have time.”
Temari sent him a glare. He blinked and stood a little taller at the look.
“I don’t care we aren’t going to leave her here.”
“This is not wise.”
“We can’t just leave her!”
“She is injured. She will slow us down.”
Temari frowned harshly at Eevre she opened her mouth to say something but never got the chance.
“Open the door.”
A soft unhurried voice spoke. Both Eevre and Temari looked down at Gaara in surprise.
He was staring at Eevre, which made the elite nervous. Didn’t this human ever blink.
Eevre sighed, he didn’t like this. They were only supposed to set one free. No doubt whoever had been sent the alert would realize something very wrong was happening when the second door was opened. The entire ship would be alerted.
Eevre’s jaws twitched, finally he reached forward and pressed a button. The shielding over the door disappeared. The woman seemed to wake up, although she didn’t turn to look at them.
“I’ve already told you bastards!”
The woman muttered…
“I’m not telling you a thing!”
Eevre did not speak since the woman didn’t have a translation device. Instead he bent over and with his considerable strength picked up the woman.
This seemed to surprise her as she suddenly started to struggle.
“Let go of me!”
“Hey calm down!”
Temari said.
The woman looked her way, he gaze lingering on the weapon strapped to Temari‘s side. She then looked to the elite who was also armed, she seemed very confused.
“Lets leave the questions for later. Can you walk?”
“I…I think so.”
“Good, now lets get the hell out of here.”
Eevre set the human down. She didn’t try to run much to her credit. However she looked very weary.
Eevre said something the woman couldn’t understand, Temari translated.
“He said, can we trust you not to shoot him if he gave you weapon.”
Temari gave the woman a serious look.
“We’re expecting trouble very soon. We could use the help, can we trust you?”
“Can I trust you!!?”
The woman shot back. Temari smiled.
“Haven’t killed you yet.”
The woman glanced between them then finally nodded. Eevre tossed her a needler.
“What’s your name?”
The woman asked as she made sure the needler was in good working order. She gave Eevre an untrusting look but didn’t try anything.
“Temari, this is Gaara…You?”
“Miranda…Commander Miranda Keyes of the In Amber Clad.”
00000000000000
“OW ow OWW! Careful that hurt!”
Lee cried out as Shikamaru and Church tried to as carefully as they could peel the burned cloth off of Lee’s back.
Both winced at the extensive burn as finally they managed to get the cloth off. That in itself wasn’t an easy task as the material was pretty much melted into what was left of Lee’s shoulder.
“No to bad. I’ve seen a Hunter to worse.”
Church said as he tried to comfort the boy. Lee had just gotten back, something Church couldn’t believe. How would have thought that someone could be a match for Hunters unarmed? Lee had given them a run down of what happened. A simple debriefing that under normal circumstances Church would have admired. No bragging, no unnecessary facts, just what happened in the quickest way possible. Right now though it annoyed Church. He wanted to know why, how when what? But he refrained…the boy was hurt. Questions later.
With a sigh Church cracked open his medical kit once again. They were getting low on supplies. Counting the weirdo Lee, they had two plasma burns, and one amputation.
The bio foam can used for Tucker was completely out now. Church only hoped the foam held. If not they would have to tie the stump to prevent bleeding and that could do more harm than good.
“Here.”
Church said as he handed Shikamaru a tube of burn ointment.
This Lee person…he couldn’t be human. The way he had batted the hunters around. He had hit the mega ton creature and it literally flew across the street. He had bent metal with his bare hands, and apparently had fought and won against two Hunters and the Phantom that had been trailing them.
He really wished he had stuck around to watch that. At this point the didn’t give a damn about where these people came from. They had saved their lives several times at this point and were powerful. He would have given everything he had to watch Lee kick the Covenants ass.
Sadly though, Lee’s ignorance of Covenant weaponry had lead to a rather large and painful wound. The entire left shoulder was burned. He had been hit on the back side, and the plasma had rounded about to the front. A few smaller burns decorated his face and neck, although they were small, barely first degree. The shoulder burn however…it was defiantly 3rd. The skin was nothing but a charred black husk.
Shikamaru rubbed the ointment on as carefully as he could. It had some mild pain reliever in it, although not near enough for this kind of burn. Hopefully it would keep it from getting infected until Lee could be seen by a doctor.
“Kami Lee.”
Shikamaru muttered.
“Why didn’t you duck!”
Lee smiled, although it was overcastted by pain.
“I did…I thought I did at least. I wasn’t expecting it. Never seen weapons like that before.”
“Well, your bad judgment is going to cost you your bowl cut.”
Shikamaru commented as he brushed his hand through what was left of Lee’s hair. The plasma blast had burned a huge hunk of it off. Leaving Lee’s head looking almost like a Q-ball…a torched one at that.
Church was quick to speak when he noticed how close Lee was to crying. Apparently the horrible hair cut meant a lot to the weird guy.
“Hair is replaceable. Just be glad you got side swiped. I’ve seen a direct Hunter blast go through a tanks armor.”
“Hurts like a bitch doesn’t it.”
Simmons commented from his sitting place a few feet over. He had been watching and listening to the entire conversation.
“Simmons, mind your language.”
Church ordered although the little girl was to far away to hear. She was over by her parents still traumatized by the almost getting stepped on.
“Sorry Sir.”
Simmons muttered as he watched Shikamaru stand up. They had been through hell the last few days. It was taking forever to get anywhere with the heavy patrols. They would go a ways, the Shikamaru would leave them to scout ahead. Depending on what he saw they would continue or take a detour.
It was…disgusting. But they had been forced to steal and eat twice from shops that contained dead bodies.
In the background the little girl sniffled.
“Lets get going.”
Church said as he realized the down and out mood that was oozing out of everyone.
This was hell.
“We’re not too far are we?”
Tucker asked as he noticed the others getting up. Church smiled at his fellow marines as he helped him up. Tucker had lost a lot of blood, but he was a hardy bastard and was clinging to everything he had. Church let him lean against him.
“Not to much farther. We’ll get you to a hospital and before you know it you’ll have a brand new flash cloned hand.”
“Yep with soft skin and everything.”
Tucker took a swipe at Simmons with his good hand although the marine was more than fast enough to avoid it. They all chuckled at the crude joke.
It took a few minutes to get everyone up and ready. Church and Shikamaru were taking point, the civilians in the middle, Simmons and Tucker followed them, and then even farther back watching them all was Lee.
“Do you think the Covenant has given up yet?”
Church asked in a low voice. The city seemed deserted but he knew better. He was starting to trust the two boys more. It seemed they knew where the Covenant was before anyone. They also seemed rather good as dodging them as the group hadn’t gotten caught yet.
“No. Their still out there. I think we’ve managed to evade most of them though.”
“We can’t keep going like this.”
It was true, Tucker looked like death. Lee and Simons had to get into a hospital or risk more than just infection. Without being cleaned by a special substance, the residue from a plasma burn could poison the blood. Simons wound was older, but Lee had gotten hit far worst.
“I know.”
Shikamaru said after a long pause.
“From what Hinata told me yesterday…”
Shikamaru paused as he mentioned his missing friend. Church could see how much the black haired young man hated leaving her behind. A sharp shake of the head and all emotion disappeared from Shikamaru’s face. Replacing with the normal ‘I don’t care I’m lazy’ attitude that he usually went with.
“She said about a days walk from the hotel. I’m guess we can’t be more than few hours…if nothing happens.”
“Its that IF that has me worried.”Church muttered almost to himself as he clutched his gun in paranoia.
“The Covenant has tripled its presence in the last hour or so.”
Shikamaru continued.
“Do you think your forces might come out here to try to at least try and find out what is happening?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe?”
Shikamaru turned slightly and stared hard at Church. Despite being the commanding officer here Church had the strong feeling that the boy was measuring him up.
“You don’t think we’ll last another night?”
The boy asked. Church blinked surprised. He didn’t say that, all he said was that they couldn’t keep on like this. Could this kid read his mind, after all he saw today he wouldn’t doubt it.
“Plasma burns are worse than just burns.”
Church finally said keep his voice down.
“it’s a type of radiation poisoning.”
Shikamaru scratched his chin.
“I thought your man was looking unnaturally pale. How bad is this poisoning?”
“Lethal. For Lee it’ll happen quicker. He got a way bigger dose of it. I…I don’t think either one will survive the night if we don’t get them to a hospital.”
Shikamaru’s face didn’t change, not a flicker of emotion passed over it at this statement, however Church noticed the way his Adam apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
“We need to see what’s going on.”
Shikamaru finally said.
“You guys stay here. Me and Lee are hitting the high ground.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
Church asked as he remembered those damn banshee’s that flew over every now and again. Luckily for them the noise produced by the machines gave them ample warning to go and hide. He also didn’t really like how Shikamaru kept giving orders. He was just a kid….then again. Church had to admit the kid was good. A natural leader, and the way Lee acted toward him showed a lot of respect.
That girl had been the same way. I might be the highest ranking officer, but those kids looked to this one.
Thus far it had been Shikamaru that had kept them alive. It was Shikamaru that had saved them from that elite that cut off Tuckers hand. It was Shikamaru that was leading them out of this hell hole. He was the one keeping them out of Covenant hands.
Church finally nodded. To the question and to himself.
He might just be a kid, but he knew what he was doing. Church wasn’t so insecure about himself that he couldn’t see that Shikamaru was the better leader here.
He would do as he said, until he saw reason not to.
“Yes, but it’s a risk we have to take.”
Shikamaru didn’t say it, but Church knew what he was saying. It was a risk they had to take for Lee and Simmons sake, hell for Tuckers sake as well.
With that Shikamaru seemed to just…disappear. Church startled violently at the poof of smoke. Looking around wildly his gun safety OFF, Church for some reason felt the urge to look up. What he saw shocked him more than anything he’d seen yet.
Shikamaru was on top of the building. Granted it wasn’t a huge sky scraper or anything but it was like 6 stories high. His mouth only dropped farther as Lee went seemly flying through the air to jump on the side of one building and doing a series of jumps joined Shikamaru on the roof.
“Jesus Christ!”
Church swore.
“What kind of freaks are these guys.”
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