Naruto Fanfic - Prisoner of Nightmare

Chapter Forty-Seven[XLVII]: Red Waves - VIII

   Uzumaki Kenko did not stop counting until the shipping crate, not room, he and the other kidnapped people were in moved, creaking like some large beast and shaking. "Two-hundred-thousand, three-hundred twenty-five," he mutters, spreading out his chakra so that he could examine what was going on outside after two days, seven hours, thirty-eight minutes, and forty-five seconds.

   The shipping crate was being pulled onto a large ship along with another one identical to the one Kenko was in. He clenched his jaw, noting eight other civilian signatures inside, mostly children with two adults, who are more-than-likely women. Kenko breathes out to calm himself, feeling hunger pains stab him in the stomach.

   He winces, reminded of those days in his childhood where he stayed hidden in some mouldy crevasse for so long he was crying from them. This time, it wasn't him who was crying, but the children, the women had stopped long ago, instead opting to try to soothe the children. Kenko admired their nurturing instincts, he would have just let them cry themselves to sleep.

  Which, he knows, is cruel, but he's still trying to cope with the new information bestowed upon him from a couple of days ago. Kenko's thoughts are, thankfully, interrupted by the creaking and shaking stopping. There's silence for a few moments before there's the sound of a lock clicking open and the shrill sound of the crate door sliding up. 

   "M-Mommy?" a child's voice calls out, hopeful and pleading only to be met with a truly nasty laugh full of malice.

   "M-Mommy?" the man mocked, gaining laughs from the people behind him. Kenko can hear the child whimper and begin to quietly sob. "Ah, this job is so great. It's a shame we're not allowed to touch the goods," he sneers, earning agreements from the men behind him. "Give them their 'food'."

   Kenko can immediately tell what they'll be getting to eat is something that will be quite rancid, and he is soon proven right as the familiar scent of rotting fruits enters the crate. They toss the fruits onto the ground, most defiantly covering them in urine and shit that dripped onto the floor from the crates. 

   He can only sigh as the crate door closes, closing of the vicious laughs from outside. He reaches down and grabs one of the fruits, appearing to be a pear from the shape and smell of it. Kenko wipes off most of the bodily fluids on it and eats the rotting parts, expertly ignoring the horrid taste. 

   When the rotting parts are gone, Kenko says, "Hey, kid above me," there's sniffles, "reach down, I'm going to give you a pear." The kid does as he says, and Xenos hands the child the pear. He grabs another one, this time an apple. "Adults, eat the rotting parts and hand it to the child above you."

   The women agree quietly, some gagging on the taste and spitting it out, but managing to do it before handing it up. "Aren't you a child? You sound very young." The woman on his right asks.

   "I'm ten," Kenko says nonchalantly, "but I know when to not be."

   "Smart boy," the woman behind his head says.

   "You have to be smart if you don't want to die," he clicks his tongue, "however, it seems I wasn't smart enough to avoid getting kidnapped."

   "You'll be fine," the last woman assures, "we'll all be fine, someone will defiantly save us." Kenko gives a smile full of hatred that no one can see. Yes, someone will save them, but it won't be an angel or something like that. 

   "I'm sure we will be," Kenko says, hardly able to wait any longer. It will be a demon that saves them.

   A red demon covered in blood.

•°•

   Uzukaze Naruto looked up at the star-filled sky, observing how each and every star twinkled like pinpricks in the sky. A slight chill crept up his body that he mitigated with a blanket of chakra, not allowing anything to interrupt his stargazing. It's a pleasure that he rarely allows himself to truly enjoy, especially with such a bright full moon in the cloudless sky.