The sound of rusty hinges echoed across the subterranean portion of the Anbu headquarters, the grating creak sending chills down the spine of many a passer by. A single Anbu carrying a tray of food into the moss covered cell. The man sighed tiredly as he looked upon the uneaten tray on the small night-table on the side of the bed before turning his eyes on the young blond girl who remained in the same position she had for several days now, her arms hugging her knees as she sat on the bed, her back against the wall. Already her skin was beginning to lose its tanned color, becoming more pale in its pigment due to the lack of sun, her eyes were shadowed by her hair, the blue orbs reflecting what little light reached them, giving off a very eerie feel as the Anbu looked at her.
Sighing he placed his tray on the midnight table next to her, keeping his eyes fixed on her. He recognized her as a young girl who had been apprenticed to the Kazekage, he didn't know why she was here but he'd been warned that she had the potential to be very unstable and that he should be on guard to a potential attack.
Supposedly some events in the last battle against Konoha had made her lose her mind. While he couldn't blame her he had to wonder why she wasn't shackled like she'd been when she arrived. It was just stupid to leave a mentally unstable prisoner to just be walking around, free to attack if she so chose to do so.
She kept her eyes on him, her piercing blue eyes making him repress the desire to shift from foot to foot uncomfortably. Setting down her new tray he picked up the old one, which seemed as if it hadn't even been touched before he turned sharply on his heel, doing his best to ignore the blue eyes that pierced his back as he quickly shut the door ignoring the creak of the grating hinges as the door slammed shut with a resounding clatter. Sifting through the keys in his pocket he found the small piece of metal with ease and snapped the lock closed with a resounding crank.
Akina watched the ANBU leave before turning her eyes onto the tray of food. It had been two days since Zhuge Liang and Tsunade had come to see her, in that time, no one else had shown up, except for the Anbu that brought her food. But she didn't eat, she simply refused to. She didn't know what was in that food and...at this point she wouldn't put it past Liang to drug her with some kind of toxin to make her obedient.
He had more than proven himself willing to use her for his own ends, she wouldn't allow herself to fall for it again. He had told her that sometime today he would be leaving for Iwa, that was his mistake. She knew any attempt of escaping would be foiled by him. He could always best her in a spar, and he knew her fighting style inside and out. She couldn't have risked trying to escape because if she did and he caught her then he'd put chains on her again, perhaps even chakra draining this time. But once he left, that was her window.
She settled herself into a meditative position, she didn't want to alert anyone to what she was planning, which is why she snapped herself out of her trance when she felt the ANBU approaching. If she succeeded in her attempts, then she could escape this place and leave Kumo. She wasn't sure what she would do once she got outside of Kumo, but she had to get out of here, she refused to stay here, not with Liang, and not with Tsunade.
Yugito and Shizune's faces flashed in her minds eye for a moment but she forcefully pushed them away before returning her attention to what she was doing. Hopefully she would be able to accomplish her goal soon enough, it was dangerous to eat, but it was also dangerous to not eat, obviously. Shizune had taught her a thing or two about the human body, and she was more grateful for it now than ever.
Essentially The body uses glucose as its main metabolic fuel if it is available. About 20 of the total energy consumption occurs in the brain. The rest of the glucose consumption fuels muscle tissue and red blood cells.
Glucose can be obtained directly from dietary sugars and carbs. In the absence of dietary sugars and carbs, it is obtained from the breakdown of glycogen. Glycogen is a readily-accessible storage form of glucose, stored in small quantities in the liver and muscles. The body's glycogen reserve can provide glucose for about 12 hours.
After the glycogen reserve is used up, glucose can be obtained from the breakdown of fats. Fats from adipose tissue are broken down into glycerol and free fatty acids. Glycerol can then be used by the liver, to produce glucose.
However, the brain requires about 120 g. of glucose per day, and at this rate the brain will quickly use up the body's remaining carbohydrate stores. However, the body has a "backup plan" which involves molecules known as ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are short-chain derivatives of fatty acids. These shorter molecules can cross the blood-brain barrier and can be used by the brain as an emergency metabolic fuel.
After 3-4 days of fasting, the liver begins to synthesize ketone bodies from precursors obtained from fatty acid breakdown. The brain uses these ketone bodies as fuel, thus cutting its requirement for glucose. After fasting for 3 days, the brain gets 30 of its energy from ketone bodies. After 4 days, this goes up to 70.
After several days of fasting, all cells in the body begin to break down protein. This releases amino acids into the bloodstream, which can be converted into glucose by the liver.
Starvation ensues when the fat reserves are completely exhausted and protein is the only fuel source available to the body. Thus, after periods of starvation, the loss of body protein affects the function of important organs, and death results, even if there are still fat reserves left unused. In a leaner person, the fat reserves are depleted earlier, the protein depletion occurs sooner, and therefore death occurs sooner.
So, the way she figured it, she weighed roughly 135 to 145 pounds. Given the average humans break downs of energy reserves she had four days in total before the fasting began to wear down her muscle tissue. She had stopped eating roughly two days ago. So that would mean that she had about two days left.
Settling herself into her meditative stance she immersed herself into the recess of her mind.
Nii Yugito ran past staff of the hospital and regular civilians blindly, ignoring Shizune as she yelled after her to come back. She rushed past everyone, pushing them out of her way as she ran towards the exit of the hospital.
It just couldn't be. She refused to believe what she had seen outside her hospital window. That sight...that broken and charred ruin simply could not be her village.
But, as she pushed open the double glass hospital doors with all the strength her recently awakened body could muster she could not deny herself the truth any longer.
What had once been an active metropolis, a city teeming with life was now little more than a shattered memory in the face of the devastation that now plagued it. Yugito, felt her eyes glistening with tears, the twin orbs looked like glass as she let them pass over the village. Her chest clenching painfully over her heart, as if her ribs were talons that tightened a vicious hold within her chest cavity.
Both hands moved in a vague motion as if she was going to grip her chest but they soon went to her stomach as she collapsed on her knees. Her breaths came in short quick pants as she began to hyperventilate. She quickly placed one hand on the ground to hold herself up as she lurched forward feeling as though she was about to throw up. She felt someone, possibly Shizune rush up behind her. One of the medics arms wrapped around Yugito in an embrace while the other rubbed soothing circles over her back.
Tears trailed from Yugito's eyes down her cheeks, dripping from her chin onto the gravel clenched between her fingers as she let her eyes travel over the village.
She could see them all, men and women, young and old, as they moved like the weight of the world was on their shoulders, sorrow brimming behind their features. She saw an old woman with a child, placing flowers next to a sidewalk, no doubt the sight where one of their family members had died during the attack. The young boy had tears in his eyes, wiping at them furiously as they continued to pour freely.
Yugito opened her mouth as if to speak, but whatever words sought their release became lodged in her throat. Finally the old woman turned away, beckoning the little boy away from the sight, his sobs continuing to reach Yugito's ears as the distance between them increased.
The Nibi Jinchuriki looked down at the ground, where now both hands shook as they struggled to hold up her weight. "Wh-Where...where was I...Shizune? Where was I when all of this happened?"
Shizune herself struggled to hold back her own tears as she continued to rub soothing circles across the female Jinchuriki's back. "The Akatsuki member...Hidan...caused extensive damage to several arteries and key organs in your body even your heart was damaged...you...you would have died several times over if it hadnt been for the Nibi...even so...your body needed extensive time, at least for a Jinchuriki, to heal properly. You have been unconscious for nearly three weeks...since the day of the Akatsuki's attack on you."
Yugito's fists clenched tightly, the gravel crunching in her palm as her eyes clenched shut, tears leaking past her closed lids heedless as they dripped onto the ground. "I should have been here." She whispered to herself quietly.
Shizune's eyes took on a look of pity. "There was nothing yo-"
"I should have been here!" The Kumo kunoichi roared suddenly, cutting her off as she shoved the medic away, standing up on shaky legs. "This is my village! I should have done something; anything!" She yelled before turning her back on Shizune and fixing her eyes back onto the shattered remnants of her city. "I should have been here." She whispered to herself as she buried her face in her hands, sobs beginning to wrack her frame as Shizune walked up to her and enveloped her in a comforting hug. "Shhh shhh." The medic whispered as she rocked the Kunoichi gently from side to side. "Its alright...its alright." She whispered as she allowed herself to be Yugito's sympathetic shoulder...no doubt they all needed one at this point.
But soon Yugito turned her eyes back onto Shizune's as she pulled away from the embrace, her eyes still shimmering with tears. "Shizune...where is Akina?"
Toushiro sighed as he rubbed his forehead tiredly the previous days events had taken much out of him and it seemed like they were just now willing to catch up to him fully, weighing down on his shoulders as he kept his eyes open and trying to stay alert throughout the mornings events.
"You look tired." A voice to his right commented, bringing the young mans attention over to Ginchiko. Standing up he hastily bowed to the older woman in greeting. "Ginchiko-san!"
"Please." She said haltingly. "Just Ginchiko. Your father would have wanted that much at least." She said stepping a bit closer to him. She looked him over once, smiling a bit in something akin to bitter sweetness as she wiped some dust off his shoulders. "Its strange...but somehow you really do remind me so much of him...how he was when he was your age. I never really would have guessed that you were adopted if I'd just met you." She looked into his eyes then smiling a little bit more as she saw the gratitude for her words in his features. "He'd be proud of you..." She paused as she took out a scroll from her pouch. "He...would also...want you to have this." She said handing it to him.
Toushiro looked down at the scroll held firmly in her hands as he took it in his own. "This is..."
"Your fathers sword yes." She answered his unasked question. Closing her eyes a bit as if in a silent sigh before looking up to Toushiro's eyes. "Be assured, that even though you are not his son by blood. He always loved you as if you were. I know this is what he would have wanted."
Toushiro smiled before he slowly handed the scroll back. "No...father always said. "One must forge his own path in this world" I think...he would rather I do the same in this situation."
Ginchiko's shocked eyes slowly gained a look of understanding and she smiled softly at the young man that stood before her. "Hmm...you really are his son aren't you." She said with a small smile as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
Toushiro smiled before he gave her a quick hug. "Thank you. That means alot coming from you." He said pulling back.
Before more could be said the door to Naruto's office opened, revealing the Godaime Hokage himself. His eyes finding them as he nodded. "Ahh good you're here." He greeted. "Come with me." He said turning back and heading into his office, the two Kiri ninja walking up behind him. Naruto walked around his desk, seating himself in the Kage chair as they two took up the seats in front of him.
Naruto held silence for a brief moment before he spoke. "I realize that this is a trying time for you, so soon after Guan's death. However, I'm afraid his loss will mean much more than our own personal grief. Naruto stood from his chair, walking over to one of his many file cabinets. He pulled out one particularly large file and set it down on the table.
"You do not know this, but Guan was a key factor in several of my future plans and contingency plans. He was a powerful figure on the battlefield, and his presence could inspire the soldiers. His death, along with this defeat has hit the morale of our warriors very hard." His blue eyes turned then, meeting theirs. "Also, with the killing of such a known figure, Kumo's momentum, despite the damage to their village is relatively high, military wise, already my scouts report reconstruction efforts taking place in Kumo, as well as relief efforts in terms of food and trade coming in from snow country to the north. It appears Liang was well prepared to recover from the self destruction of his own village. That is why I must assign the two of you separate tasks. One of which will be the..." He paused. "Taking over of what would have been Guan's duties for this event."
Toushiro stood up without hesitation. "I will do it."
"Toushiro, you should wait to hear what it is first. Guan was a very powerful and intelligent man, you may be trying to fill in his shoes too soon." Ginchiko warned.
Naruto nodded. "Indeed. Even though a defeat at Kumo was not expected, I did not entirely remove that possibility from my mind, and this scenario of what may very well be a two pronged attack from Suna and Kumo I also foresaw. Guan's duty in this case would have been to guard our northern border from Kumo's attack force, and to hold a defensive line until Kumo wore itself out. While Ginchiko most likely would lead naval raids over supply ships arriving at the port city of Jian ling, along Kumo's southern border. Weakening whatever supplies and reinforcements they may be receiving by sea. But now, with Guan's death, it is between yourself, Toyohisa, and Ginchiko to decide who will lead the defense, and who will lead the navy."
"What about Mika?" Toushiro questioned. "She is also a kiri ninja, and is affiliated with our navy just as much as I and Ginchiko are."
"Mika is a strong and ruthless Kunoichi true, but she is not a defensive fighter. And now is not the time to attack. Now is the time to tighten the defenses until the enemy slips up. Ginchiko, you know this young man best, which assignment do you believe he would be suited to?"
Ginchiko glanced up to Toushiro as he turned his eyes to look back at her. Pleading for her to grant him the opportunity to prove himself. To prove that he could be equal to his father.
The brown haired woman sighed before she stood up. "Lord, I think Toushiro would be the best choice for the land based defenses." She said simply, watching from her peripheral vision as his eyes lit up with gratitude before turning onto Naruto.
The blond Kage eyed them both. "Very well. Be ready by tomorrow. There will be three ANBU squads waiting for you at the north gate at 6:00AM you will take them and head towards our northern most border guards, understand."
Toushiro nodded and bowed. "Thank you Naruto-sama. You wont regret this."
Naruto nodded before turning to Ginchiko. "Once you return to Kiri, you will mobilize a fleet, of whatever size you deem fit and being your attacks on Kumo's supply ships as soon as possible. Understood?"
The Kiri swordswoman nodded.
"Good, dismissed." The blond spoke watching as they both turned and left the room. Naruto sat down in his chair.
'Zhuge Liang. You may very well be the sleeping dragon...but I promise you...this is one war I will not let you win.'
The world slowly swirled into view, colors mixing, light bending. The distortions of a hazed mind and fluttering eyelids slowly mulling eachother out, and becoming a single coherent image as Akina slowly emerges into a conscious state. Her breathing was heavy, every deep breath of air, hurting her, putting pressure on her chest as if her lungs were going to burst inside of her. The air was humid, but hot, almost like steam. She groaned, getting up to her knees as she struggled to pick herself up to her full height, only to lurch forward in a coughing fit, the pain in her lungs making her wince every time she coughed and was forced to take a deep breath She took alook at her surroundings, ankle deep water, a beam of light, from directly above, illuminating an area of about fifty feet in all directions from her. But after that light there was only blackness, like a veil had been dropped around her, darkening the entire world outside this small space.
"I see you've decided to visit-" A voice chuckled, the deep booming sound echoing all around her, as the foul stench of rotted, decaying flesh and dried blood hit her like a brick wall. She staggered for a moment, entering another fit of coughs as she wretched, almost unloading her stomach contents but held back.
"Worthless Mortal!!" The voice roared suddenly as a massive claw, shot out from the darkness around her. A strangled gasp escaped her before she dove to the side, avoiding the claw as it slammed down on the area where she previously stood. The rattling of chains suddenly became apparent to her ears, and the darkness seemed to take on a grayish tone, as if a light from within was growing slightly stronger, illuminating the area from the inside out.
She could begin to see something though. The faint sheen of fur, blood red fur, gleaming even in the darkness. Before she could think on it further, the claw pulled back, the clink and clank of metal tearing through the silence with it as two blood red eyes snapped open, staring straight at her, even through the darkness.
"Weak." Was all the great beast said as it stared down at her. Its head seemed to move, and the grating of metal and clinking of chains again reached her ears. "I grant you my powers fully at your disposal. And you cannot even defeat that small insect of a brother of yours."
Akina slowly stood up from where she had fallen, her clothes and hair wet as she stared up at the great Kitsune. "My brother...you...you want me to kill him too?"
"I hold no love for you pitiful sacks of flesh child. I would kill you just as easily as I would kill a thousand others it makes no difference to me. But that arrogant, impertinent wretch you call kin..Hmmm." The Kyuubi seemed to shimmer in the darkness, the temperature of the water she was standing in rising by several degrees. "He believed he could control me. He was arrogant enough to continuously force my cooperation, a force that was only perpetuated by the seal that bound me to him. Oh yes...if there is one human I would truly wish to slay it would be him. Second only to the fool who put me here in the first place."
Akina closed her eyes, fighting back tears of frustration that threatened to build up behind her eyelids. She had focused so hard on defeating Naruto...on surpassing him...on killing him. It had been her goal for so long...but now...now she didn't know even if that goal had just been another fabrication...some other form of control Liang had over her or even if this desire was hers anymore to begin with. Who did this goal belong to? Her, Liang. The Nine tails.
She took a deep breath, steeling her features before she looked up at the Kitsune again. "I need y-"
"I know what you want child." The ninetails interrupted her, his voice, somewhere between a taunt and a sneer. "I have seen your mind, I know exactly what you want. You wish to escape. You wish me to grant you the ability to fully wield the fourth tail of power, allowing you to keep your wits and your senses for a short time in order to fight your way out of this place while your sensei is away. You wish to leave Kumo." The nine tails paused looking at the young girl as she gave a quick, curt nod.
Kyuubi's teeth suddenly gleamed, flashing a grin full of malice at the Kunoichi. "Why would I do something like that foolish Kunoichi, hmm?" He questioned rhetorically, watching her as her eyes widened in something akin to horror. "Zhuge Liang is an able commander and it seems to me...he is my best chance at killing that Uzumaki boy, even in your weak body. I see no reason to assist you in this fruitless escape."
She opened her mouth to speak but the ninetails quickly cut her off, his tone almost nonchalant. "I care not if he must force your obedience with drugs or illusions, or of your worthless trust and betrayed confidence in him. I only have one goal, and that is to kill Uzumaki Naruto. And assisting you in your escape, as I have said, would seem more detrimental in that attempt." The fox explained calmly, looking as if he cocked his head to one side.
Akina, stared at the fox, her mouth agape and eyes wide as she processed what was being said to her. She hung her head, eyes closing tight as her fist shook at her side. A sight which the fox found unbelievably amusing. Until he felt something shift. When she glanced back up at him he knew for a fact that something was different.
When her eyes stared at him now Kyuubi could see it all, now beneath the brave front, beneath the desperation that had brought her here, beneath the confusion. There was this small, almost underlying hint of what the Kitsune could easilly recognize...
Madness.
It was there...just brimming beneath the surface, a thin layer of reason, as thin as a gossamer thread was all that was left. The girl had been pushed too far, too fast and too soon.
Akina, smiled a hard, tense smile at the Kitsune, flashing her enlarged canines as she did. "Kyuubi...if you dont help me...then I swear you will never reach that goal of killing my brother. Ever."
The Kitsune growled. "Are you threatening me child?"
"No." She answered simply. "Its a promise..." She paused, staring up into his eyes. "Because if you don't help me...then the first thing I'm gonna do when I wake up again...is that I'm going to walk over to the table, break off a leg so that it has a nice and sharp point...and I will stab myself in the heart, and I will keep it there until it stops beating."
Kyuubi watched her. He watched her very carefully. Throughout her entire speech she never once dropped the cold smile that graced her features, the corner of her eyes leaking bitter tears that trailed down her cheeks and dripped onto the ankle deep water below her. But the most profound thing of all was that she stared straight at him. Staring him dead in the eye. No human, no demon, apart from three other individuals had ever done that. One was the Shinigami, the second was the Yondaime Hokage, and third, was her very own brother. She was staring him down and there was no hint of even the faintest hint of fear present.
"You lie." The Kitsune said, testing the waters. "You wouldn't take your own life."
Akina smiled, chuckling like a fool as she spread her arms wide. "What else do I have to take?" She questioned, almost jovially as she laughed at him.
The nine tails looked at her again, a long tense silence passing between the two for a very long while as the great demon analyzed his options. He had very little doubt, that in her current state she wouldn't hesitate to actually make good on her threat. But for his ultimate goal of freedom, he needed the Uzumaki boy dead, and he knew well enough that it could not be done without this ones aid. He would just have to find some way to manipulate her again once this whole fiasco was over. But that was not to say, he couldn't twist this to his own advantage in the long run. But one thing was for certain, if she stayed here for much longer her mind and will would either be broken...or she would die by her own hand.
With a roar the Kitsune's claws lunged for the girl, and with a sickening squelch, the sound of claw piercing flesh and tearing bone rose over the clanking of metal chains.
"I will you my power child...for now!"
The guard carrying the tray of food slowly shifted through his set of keys as he stood in front of the door, only to watch, somewhat perplexed as a red glow came from behind the door. The key was soon forgotten, drawing his blade as the food clattered to the floor and he moved to speak into his radio transmitter.
Then, the door was suddenly blasted open, sending him, and the great iron hunk of metal smashing into the adjacent wall as the prisoner slowly emerges from her cell. The man only manages to catch a brief glimpse of a foot/claw, covered in blood red chakra step in front of him before his whole world went dark.