The Nine Tales of Naruto: Ni-ban

Chapter 8: Fujiko

Orochimaru laughed at my question. "Naruto-boy, you will not harm her. I know of your connection with her. I watched you very closely." My skin crawled at his confession. How was he doing this? Cloning her in such a way. I knew of the experiments that Orochimaru conducted but this was beyond anything I dreamed.

The man walked through the vats of clones and seemed rather proud of himself. "I know why you are here. And I plan to make you work for my help."

I grit my teeth and held my tongue. Everything screamed for the death of this man, this monster. But there was nothing to be done. He was correct unfortunately, I need his help. I looked back to Fujiko and put my hand on the glass that held her. "How is this possible? Why have you cloned her?"

Orochimaru laughed slightly, scoffed really. "That is no clone. After she fell in battle I spirited her away here. She has been resting and healing since. It was touch and go. A few modifications made. But it is her." He stopped talking and seemed to give me a moment to ponder his words.

"What do you want from me Orochimaru? I did not forget how you used me. Abandoned me. There is much I require from you, I will add Fujiko to the list." Orochimaru moved forward and began walking around me and the vat I stood beside. He seemed to nod to himself and was deep in thought.

"Alright. I will help. I know you want the village destroyed. I know you have a friend of yours. Do you want me to brainwash him? Make him believe anything you want?" His voice was eager and grated on my nerves.

"I want you just to hold him, snake. As a prisoner, not a subject. In return I will find you people for your experiments. I am sure some of my men may volunteer if you tell them they will gain power. They are simple that way." Orochimaru thought about it and decided to agree. We shook hands and he set to work on something.

My men were summoned over and Konohamaru was placed in one of the many cells found in this madhouse. The young man refused to respond to anything I said to him. It didn't matter. It was enough to know he was held secure.

Inside I felt conflicted. Something felt wrong about the situation. I took a walk around the compound and saw, as I suspected, many of my men offered to become subjects. My walking was aimless and sooner or later I found myself standing before the naked body of Fujiko floating in one of the tanks. Her clone.

She would not remember me if she opened her eyes. It wouldn't be the Fujiko I knew. That angered me in some way. I didn't like the feelings mixing up inside.

The only thing I could do was push it from my mind. I couldn't let this become a weakness to be exploited. I had enough going on with Konohamaru. I had to remain in control at all times. Even around that snake. I steeled myself and left the lab. All thoughts of Fujiko left behind me.

I moved quickly from the lab and began looking for my way out of the hidden layer. I moved quickly and ended up realizing I was at the door of Konohamaru's cell.

"Back again Nee-san? Brother. Traitor!" His voice was cracked and pained. I stood there silent as I looked through the bars.

"You know this was the only way for things to turn out. I was never welcomed there." I didn't smile as I normally would. Didn't have it in me as I usually might. But I still felt I was doing the best thing for me.

"If that was true I never would have come to take you back. Never would have fought so hard to save you from yourself. You made a mistake. It may be too late for anything to change. Even so I wanted to save you. Wanted to go home. So many killed for nothing. Why target the children? Why prove to be a monster? Until then they were the monsters. The moment you did that you only proved them right." Konohamaru went silent after his long speech.

It was the longest he ever had since being captured. It seemed he felt strongly about his current situation. But I couldn't agree with him. I didn't see things as he did. He was the outsider but I lived it. I was the one beaten and abused over years for no reason other than fear. Their fear made me who I was. Made me the very monster they warned their children to stay away from.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shorter Chapter. But I would love to hear your thoughts. Please vote and comment. If you liked this story please try reading any of my others.