Teardrop of the Wolf

Chapter 52

Warning: this chapter contains some dark themes. Viewer discretion advised.

Thick and gurgled pants could be heard throughout the cavern as a chain rattled in the still, damp air. Through the cell bars one could see a limp canine body lying on the cold floor, a thick chain rattling with each breath it took. It sounded like the body was breathing through lungs filled with liquid, which it in fact was. Some of the Sound ninja had fun with the prisoned canine previously, beating and plummeting their weapons into her body and blood was splattered along the walls.

Mori struggled to breathe, and pain raced up and down her ribs. Blood dripped from her nose and mouth, staining her white fur a startling red colour.

'Damn Sound' Mori thought as she struggled to get to her four paws.

Blood-tinged bubbles appeared around her maw as Mori struggled. The chain was draining her chakra to the point where she couldn't change forms. She was stuck as a canine until she could figure a way to get the chain off. She had tried pulling and biting at it, but nothing had worked. It felt like her ribs were carving into her lungs with each breath.

Mori managed to get to her paws, but her limbs couldn't hold her weight and buckled underneath her. She fell to the floor with a 'whump', and her breath wheezed out from the impact. She growled to herself as she tried to get in a comfortable position. Kabuto had gotten his hands on her again, but this time her mother wasn't here to save her.

Her ears flicked back when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. She rested her muzzle on top of her front legs as the footsteps stopped at the cell door.

"Well Mori. Have you gotten comfortable here?" Kabuto's voice echoed, and Mori snorted.

"Come now, let's see those pretty eyes of yours" he said, and her ears flicked back when the door opened.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and she felt hands grab her fur. Mori snarled and snapped her jaws, but was too weak to do anything else. Two Sound ninja held Mori between them and followed Kabuto out of the cell. They walked to one of the many labs that dotted the underground. They strapped in the still-growling wolf and Kabuto took out his scalpel.

"Now Mori. This won't hurt a bit, it'll hurt a lot" Kabuto said with a maliscious smirk.

Mori tried to snap at his fingers, but could barely lift her head from the lack of strength and from being strapped in. Her red eyes connected with his, and she let out a growl. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Iruka, how is your little boy doing?" Kotetsu said, coming up to the chunin.

The Chunin looked at the other ninja and sighed. All night the toddler refused to sleep in his own little bed and would cry when Iruka tried to put him to bed. Tadao had spent the rest of the night and morning hours in his parents bed, clutching at Iruka with almost bruising force. Iruka couldn't get anymore information out of his son about his mother other then 'bad man'.

"He's doing okay this morning. I left him with Sakura" Iruka said, and his friend nodded.

"Maybe we should get Inoichi to search his memories. It could help us figure out what happened" Kotetsu suggested, and Iruka frowned.

"I'm not sure I want to put Tadao through that" he said, and Kotetsu shrugged.

The two parted ways, and the Chunin walked down the street to the Konoha hospital. Sakura agreed to watch Tadao, and now he needed to talk to his son. Talking to Kotetsu had given Iruka an idea, and he wanted to see if this would work. When he entered the hospital, he heard laughter coming from one of the rooms. He smiled and followed the sound and found his son and Sakura colouring.

"Da! I draw!" Tadao said when he spotted his father in the doorway.

Iruka blinked as he gazed at his son. He had Mori's red, brilliant eyes and his dark hair.

"Thank you Sakura" Iruka smiled as she walked passed the Chunin.

She gave him a smile and waved to the 2 year old. Iruka sat down beside the toddler, who immediately shoved the picture he had been colouring into his fathers face. Iruka chuckled and took the picture away from his face.

"What's this?" Iruka said, and blinked in surprise.

The drawing showed what resembled Tadao and Mori, and then beside them was another figure. Tadao climbed onto his fathers lap, beaming from ear to ear.

"Is this me, Tadao?" he asked, and Tadao shook his head.

"Nu uh. That bad man" he said proudly.

Iruka blinked and took a closer look at the drawing.

"What're these, Tadao?"

"Gyasses."

Glasses.

"Is this his hair?"

"Uh huh. Is gey!"

Gray hair.

Iruka's heart felt like it stopped. Gray hair with glasses.

It couldn't be...

"Tadao, this man...you saw him with your mother?" Iruka said, his stomach in knots.

Kabuto had come and taken Mori again. He had also almost taken his son as well.

"Uh huh. Bad man took mama" Tadao said, red eyes wide.

Iruka plastered a smile on his face to not scare his son. He had to go to the Hokage.

"Tadao, let's go. We're going to visit the Hokage" he said, and Tadao scrambled out of his fathers lap.

Iruka picked up his son and held him to his chest as they exited the hospital, Tadao's drawing in one hand. He needed to see the Hokage as soon as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mori's muscles twitched and writhed as wave after wave of pain raced through her body. It felt like she had been on this slab for weeks as time moved slowly.

Blood pooled around her body on the metal slab as Kabuto continued his numerous experiments: taking samples of her blood, muscle and fur, injecting unknown liquids into her, and slicing away at her skin using different instruments. True to her word, Mori did not scream. That was the last thing she thought before submitting to the numbing darkness.

Kabuto grunted when he noticed his subject not responding anymore. Apparently she had fled consciousness while his back was turned.

No matter.

Kabuto motioned for two Sound ninja to come and collect the canine. They came and hauled her away, and Kabuto let a smirk slither across his lips. He had taken what was needed. She would die anyways from the various injuries.

The Sound ninja took Mori back to her cell and threw her body into it, snickering when her body hit the ground hard. Blood oozed from her numerous wounds, and the dirt and sludge from the floor caked her wounds.

Mori's mind released its grasp on the comforting darkness, and slowly she came to. The cold seeped into her fur, causing her muscles to shiver. The shivering agitated her wounds, and Mori let out low whimpers.

"Tadao...Iruka...I'm sorry" Mori murmured before falling into an exhausted sleep.