)Jeiku stretched his arm as he continued walking down the road. The roads in these mountains were winding, so as to travel around some of the rockier, and cliff-like areas. Jeiku didn’t mind; it was easier to walk this way, as the roads also tended to avoid steep inclines. He had actually been down this path before when he was a child; it had been nearly 8 years since he last came this way, however. The path was far from the village, roughly a two day walk, and Jeiku rarely had enough time to go hiking for multiple days. But by working a lot, he had awarded himself a five day break; long enough to travel this far and back before he would receive any more missions.
It was nice to have a break from training. Jeiku had been training himself very hard the past few months with few breaks. In fact, he had been training so hard that during a sparring exercise with one of his friends, he had cut up his arm pretty badly. His right arm was still wrapped in bandages, although it hadn’t bothered him for a few days now. He adjusted his glasses as he continued down the path. It was very peaceful; he could hear birds chirping, and bugs buzzing, something he didn’t always get during his time in the village.
The truth was, however, he wasn’t so far away from civilization. He had just passed through a small village at the base of this mountain roughly five miles ago. It certainly was small, but it was large enough to have a general store for Jeiku to restock, which was good considering his supplies had been running low. He reached backwards, feeling in his backpack for the beef jerky he had bought. Realizing he would need to stop and open his bag, he decided to keep walking; he’d eat later.
As Jeiku continued down the road, he heard something. He paused for a moment, and listened carefully. He couldn’t hear anything clearly, but there certainly was a high pitched noise he was picking up, something just a bit louder than the birds. He decided to follow the noise, taking a few steps before listening again. He continued this way for about five minutes before the sound came in more clearly. It was someone’s voice! Maybe it was a woman, or a young child. He couldn’t tell but as he came closer to the source, he could make out the words.
”Help! Help!” It was just this word, again, and again, with the same intonation. As Jeiku moved even closer, he could tell there were two voices; they were very similar, and so it was difficult to discern. But Jeiku couldn’t have been more than a dozen meters from them now. As he came within about 30 feet, he could see where the voices were coming from. There was what looked to be an old cave carved into the side of the mountain. Jeiku knew these caves well; after all, he had been exploring them since he was a young child.
This cave, however, appeared to be closed off; a pile of rocks blocked the entrance. The pile seemed unstable, and Jeiku concluded that it was likely newly formed. He walked up to the now closed entrance, and knocked on the stone. He listened carefully, and he could clearly hear the cries for help. By the sound of it, they were children; at least a couple, but no more. He knocked again, this time a little louder, and the cries stopped.
”I’m here… I’m out here,” Jeiku began a bit unsure of what exactly to say. “I’m going to help you get out of there!” He shouted as he began pulling the rocks from the highest points he could reach away. As he did so, several more rocks fell down, covering the area he was trying to uncover. Jeiku didn’t have time for this; if the children were in trouble, he would need to get in their much more quickly. Jeiku shouted to them again: “Stay away from the wall! I’ll get you out!”[/b]
Jeiku took a step back, grabbing his trident off his back as he did. He stuck his trident into the ground so it could stand on its own before making several hand seals. Once completed, his right hand began to glow blue with lightning energy. He grabbed the trident with his right hand, pulling it out of the ground and pointing it towards the closed off opening to the cave. In one quick motion, he released a bolt of lightning that smashed into the rocks. A puff of smoke rose from the rocks, and an opening about the size of chair was made. Jeiku quickly pushed the rocks he could aside, making the opening large enough to enter through. He moved in.
The cave was incredibly small; just a couple feet wide, and the ceiling was not nearly high enough for Jeiku to stand in. Bent over he could see two boys, one next to the other, covered in dirt and wearing hospital attire, as if they were patients. The children themselves couldn’t have been more than 10 years old. The first, closest to the entrance, had dark black hair and was very pale; he looked very sickly. The farther one was far livelier. He had bright brown hair and darker skin. Jeiku nodded to each of them as he spoke.
“What are you two doing in here? Come on!” He motioned to the hole he had made. Neither of the boys responded quickly, but after Jeiku grabbed the closer one’s arm, the two began to crawl towards him, exiting the cave. As they emerged into the light, Jeiku could see the children better. He was surprised, and horrified. The child who had been closer to him, the pale one, was missing both of his feet; instead, in their place, was a mess of dirty looking bandages. The other was not faring much better; while he had both of his feet, he was missing his right arm in its entirely, also seemingly replaced with bandages. Jeiku was taken aback, and physically took several steps away as he took in what was happening. “What happened to you guys?” He asked, his mouth wide open.
The child with feet stood up, and stepped forward. He nervously avoided eye contact, but spoke. ”Can you help me find my mom? The boy asked. There was a long pause where Jeiku tried to understand the request. Both boys had marks down their face as if they had been crying. Before Jeiku could answer, the same boy spoke. ”Can you take me home? Jeiku shook his head, trying to snap out of his thoughts.
”Uh, sure, little buddy. Which… where is home? Which way?” Jeiku asked. The little boy turned around, looking both ways before shrugging.
”I dunna,” he responded. Jeiku nodded to the boy with a perplexed look on his face.
”Well, I’ll just take you back to the village; it’s not far from here, just a few miles,” Jeiku said with a smile, trying to seem friendly. ”My name is Jeiku. What are your names?” he asked.
”My name is Baki,”” the boy replied, as if he had rehearsed it. Jeiku nodded before looking over at the other boy, who still hadn’t risen from the ground; but of course he hadn’t with wounds like he had on his feet. Jeiku looked back at Baki, raising his eyebrows. ”This is Harune. He’s my friend,” the young child responded. None of this seemed real. Jeiku felt as if he were in a dream, or rather a nightmare.
”Well, we should go as quickly as possible,” Jeiku said, trying not to sound worried about the boys’ injuries. He walked over to Harune ”Here we go,” Jeiku said as he hoisted the child up on his shoulders. Comfortably holding the child on his back, he headed towards the direction he had come from. He motioned for the other boy to follow him as best he could with Harune on his back. Baki got the message, and followed along. He walked on Jeiku’s left side so as to hold his hand with his one arm. This was difficult for Jeiku with the other boy on his back, but he managed through a mangling of limbs. They quickly found the path, and started heading towards the village.
”So, Baki,” Jeiku began, wanting to get information from the child without scaring him. Are you in school? He looked at the boy for only a second before turning back towards the path. He figured this would be something good; a normal question, because this was just a normal situation.
Yessss… I have school, Baki replied. But I have had vacation for a loooong time.” Jeiku narrowed his eyebrows. What did the child mean?
”Vacation, huh? That sounds fun! Where did you go on vacation?” He tilted his head as he asked. Baki grabbed Jeiku’s hand tighter.
”In the forest, vacation in the forest,” Baki replied, looking forward rather than at Jeiku.
”Vacation in the forest?” he asked. That wasn’t odd; Jeiku had often spent his vacation time with his father, hiking through the forests. ”Did you have fun?” Baki simply looked up at Jeiku, meeting his eyes for the first time, and shook his head back and forth vigorously, indicating a negative. ”No?” Jeiku laughed. ”And why is that?”
”Because,” the child replied, with the long pause that children often put after the word “because.” Jeiku almost thought that was the end of the thought until Baki continued. ”The doctor was mean to me.” Doctor? Jeiku thought to himself. Perhaps the child was sick, and that was why he had this unenjoyable vacation. Or maybe, Jeiku thought, there was something else going on. Jeiku’s senses as a ninja were bothering him, and he couldn’t stop himself from asking a following question.
”This mean doctor, was he mean to your parents too?”
”No…” the child replied. ”He never even met my parents. He just met with me.” Now something definitely fishy was going on; Jeiku was sure of it. Two missing children, with surgically removed limbs. This reeked of human medical testing. Jeiku was disgusted. But he didn’t want to dwell on it; not with the children here. He couldn’t think of anything to say, but soon Baki pulled on his arm, ending the silence. ”Do you have any food, Jeiku?” Jeiku smilled and nodded.
”I do! Do you like beef jerky?” Both boys nodded, with Harune’s head almost knocking against Jeiku’s. ”Alright then!” Jeiku said as he stopped walking. He dropped Harune down on a nearby boulder before dropping his own backpack on the ground. He pulled out the beef jerky he had bought, and handed a bunch to Baki before giving the rest of the bag to Harune. The two children dug in, eating all of his jerky within minutes. Apparently, they were very hungry.
It wasn’t long before they continued on their way to the village, Harune on Jeiku’s back, and Baki at his side once again. As they walked, Jeiku tried to lighten the mood. ”So, Baki, what do you want to do when you grow up?”
”I want to be a ninja!” Baki replied confidently and immediately. Jeiku smiled and chuckled.
”Oh yea? And why is that?”
”Because ninja’s are AWESOME!” the boy shouted, raising his one arm into the sky. ”Ninjas go like PCH PEW PCH!” Baki continued making explosion noises. … and then they save everyone!”. Jeiku laughed as the boy finished.
”I guess so,” Jeiku responded. He was beginning to like this child. ”And what about you Harune?” Jeiku asked. The boy didn’t respond vocally, only shook his head. Jeiku supposed the child didn’t like to talk; maybe he was just shy around strangers. ”I guess that means you don’t want to be a ninja, huh Harune?” Jeiku chuckled before Baki began speaking again.
”When I’m a ninja, all the bad doctors will go bye bye!” the child waved his good arm as he continued. ”Because I’ll kill them all of them!” Baki said without the pause that would have made this sound normal. Jeiku’s ears perked at the mention of the doctor again.
”This doctor,” Jeiku began. ”Have you known him for a long time or…?
”Nah! the child responded quickly. He was becoming more talkative. He must have been becoming more comfortable with Jeiku. ”Just a weeks ago.” he said, obviously missing a word. Jeiku didn’t correct him though.
”Mmhmph and where did you meet him?” Jeiku asked.
”In his home!” the boy replied happily, frowning up at Jeiku.
”And where is that?” Jeiku asked.
”It’s dark, and scary there… the child responded. Jeiku nodded as if it was an answer to his question.
”Right, of course it was,” Jeiku replied. ”And where was that again?”
”His house, in the forest,” Baki replied matter of fact-ly. Jeiku shook his head understandingly. He noticed as the boy released his hand to grab his missing arm, before beginning to slow down. Jeiku deduced what must have been happening; whatever pain kilelrs he had been on, the ones that made him able to be happy and talkative, seemed to be wearing off. It wouldn’t be long before Jeiku had two crying boys on his hands. They weren’t far from the village however, and a ten minute walk brought them to the small town.
The village at the base of the mountain was quite small; tiny even, with only about two dozen buildings. It didn’t take long for Jeiku to find the hospital. Hospital was a generous term for the building; it was really the local doctor’s office. As they entered, Jeiku stared down the doctor; was this the man Baki had been talking about? Jeiku watched closely as the doctor took the two boys, and sent a man out to bring their parents. Jeiku stayed with the boys until one of their parents arrived. The mother of Baki was a good looking woman, not ten years older than Jeiku for certain. She rushed over and hugged her child, tears in her eyes before she turned to Jeiku.
“Thank you so much for bringing him home! Thanks you…. Thank you.”. Jeiku nodded at the woman, trying not to smile at the sight of the reunion.
”Yes, of course. Anyone in my position would have done the same,” Jeiku said.
”Apparently, that’s not true,” the mother said. She looked Jeiku up and down before continuing. Seeing Jeiku’s headband, she asked ”You’re a shinobi from the cloud, aren’t you?” Jeiku nodded. ”Well, we appreciate all the work that you’ve done.. The woman hurriedly turned back to her child, but Jeiku reached out and put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention.
”Would you mind,” Jeiku began. “…if I asked you some questions?” The mother looked at Jeiku confused for a moment before nodding, and the two of them left the room. In the waiting room, which was empty, as it was just about night time, they spoke privately.
”Your son talked to me about a ‘bad doctor.’ I think he was referring to the man who did this to him. Do you have any idea who this could be?” The woman raised her hand to her chin, thinking for a moment before answering.
”No, I’m sorry. I can’t think of anyone. Our doctor here is very kind, and would never do anything like this!”. Jeiku nodded.
”Okay. How long has Baki been missing for?”
”Oh, I don’t know… I haven’t been sleeping well, and all the days sort of meld into one. It has to be a week since he first went missing.” Jeiku nodded.
”Alright, ma’am. Thank you.” Jeiku stood to leave, but the woman grabbed his arm.
”Are you going to bring his information back to Kumogakure and have them send a group o investigate?” The truth was, Jeiku had thought about it. But he convinced himself it didn’t make sense. By the time he got to the village and it could send a squad, this guy could be long gone. He wasn’t sure I this made sense, or if he was making the pieces fit to convince himself that he was right to go after this “doctor” himself.
”No, ma’am. But I promise you; I will personally get this guy.” Jeiku turned away again, but before he left, he spoke to the mother. ”You know, Baki was very brave through this whole ordeal. You’ve done a great job with him. Go to your son now; I’ll speak to you once I have news.” The mother stood, uttering a few “thank you”’s while running back towards her son.
Jeiku left the doctor’s office as several others entered; Jeiku assumed these people where other parents of the children, but he didn’t have time to speak with them. The moon was already high in the sky, and the last glimmer of light from the sun could be seen disappearing beyond the horizon. He thought about the kind of monster that could have done this to two children, and he forced the air out through his nose angrily. He knew one thing for certain; he would find this monster, and kill them.
He left the small town in a sprint, heading back towards the forest. The night time brought a new bout of cold air, but it didn’t bother Jeiku. This was why Jeiku became a shinobi; so he could help people with his powers, so he could stop monsters like this from ruining the world. He picked up speed as he ran.
He reached the cave within about an hour. The sun had already set, and it was dark, but Jeiku’s eyes had adjusted well, and he had had plenty of practice moving in the dark. While he was there, he noticed a set of footprints that didn’t belong to him or either of the boys. The doctor hadn’t been too far behind him, apparently. The children were lucky. Jeiku followed the tracks, but they weren’t very deep, and he lost them pretty quickly.
He searched the forest for more than two hours with no results. Finally, he came across a small wooden cabin, hidden beneath two trees. As soon as he did, he was confident he had found it. He removed his trident from his back, and walked up to the door. He placed the prongs of his trident inside the crack in the door, and heaved. The door popped open, as the pieces of a wooden lock fell to the floor.
As he entered, two kunai immediately flew at his face. He raised his trident, blocking the both of them. He was breathing heavy as he entered the room. It was a dark area, but the moon lit up the room well enough for Jeiku to see. There were books everywhere, and handwritten notes posted on the wall. Attached to the ground in the far corner of the room was a metal table, with dried blood on its side. A shelf above the table had jars containing different organs, as far as Jeiku could tell. The whole place stunk terribly, and Jeiku couldn’t stand it. He stepped outside, taking several deep breaths in before turning back. This man was truly a monster.
It was getting dark, but Jeiku was not getting tired. All he could think about was killing this guy. He sat in the bushes outside the cabin, waiting for this doctor to return. He thought about every way he would kill this guy; stabbing, perhaps, but that would be too quick. He could use his Raiton to electrocute the doctor again and again. He hated torture, but he didn’t care about his principles at the moment. His rage was too great.
He sat in the brush for two hours, and the doctor did not return. This man obviously had some shinobi skills; at the very least, some kunai and a very monstrous form of medical ninjutsu. Perhaps the man had already left the cabin, knowing that someone would be coming after him. Perhaps the doctor was watching Jeiku right now. He felt slimy just thinking about this guy.
Jeiku stood, emerging from the bush. He walked towards the door, and opened it once more, entering again and taking a last look at the area. He found nothing; nothing he could use to find this person. He opened the notebooks to find most of them empty. At the bottom of the pile was a small notebook that was filled from cover to cover. Jeiku took it and put it in his pouch. He then walked out of the building, but left the door open. With his back still turned to the cabin, he weaved hand seals. Once completed, his right hand glowed with blue lightning energy. He turned back to the cabin, releasing a shot of lightning into it. The building itself caught fire, and Jeiku spun back around, and began walking forward into the forest.
It took him two hours to find his way back to the town, and the sun was rising as he walked back into the limits. He was beginning to feel tired, but he was still too worked up to sleep. He headed to the doctor’s office to check on the boys. When he arrived, a group of people sat around a table in the waiting room, the doctor, Baki’s mother, and three other’s that Jeiku did not recognize. As he entered, one of the med he did not recognize walked up to him.
”Hey, you’re the one who brought my son back, right? Did you find the guy who did this?” Jeiku looked down at the ground and shook his head.
”I think I found where he did this, but he wasn’t there. I… I burned it down.” Jeiku sighed deeply. ”How are the boys?” As Jeiku said this, the woman he recognized as Baki’s mother began crying. The doctor stood and walked over to Jeiku.
”Neither of the boys made it,” he admitted, somberly. Jeiku’s eyes opened wide.
”How!??! How is that possible?!?! They were fine when I was with them!” Jeiku stepped back, his breathing picking up pace.
”I know, but they had ingested some type of poison that….” The doctor continued speaking, but Jeiku didn’t hear anything. Is ears were ringing; they were ringing so loudly. He felt like muscles in his head were tightening. It hurt, but he couldn’t raise his arms to grasp his head. He stopped breathing. Everything stopped. His vision became blurred as tears filled his eyes.
”How….” It was the only thing he could say, and he repeated it quietly under his breath. That was the only thing he could hear; it was the only thing he could think. He had no senses, nothing but that word.
Then, all at once, everything came back. He reach up, grabbing his head as it thumped. He began to breath rapidly, more rapidly than he could remember he had ever before. Tears began to fall down his face as the word grew louder in his head. He turned away, removing his headband for a moment. Taking several steps outside, he screamed as loud as he could.
He took off, running into the woods. After reaching a few meters into the dense brush, he removed his trident from his back and began swinging away at a tree. He swung harder and harder until his trident became stuck in the side of the tree. With his trident stuck, he began to weave hand seals. A flash of lightning was released into the sky from his hands, and then another as he screamed again. As he tried to do the jutsu once more, he slipped and made a mistake with the hand seals. He dropped to the ground, leaning against a tree.
Why? Why did he care so much about these children? They weren’t his. He didn’t know them. He hadn’t even heard of them until some 15 hours ago. And yet… this feeling. He had never experienced anything like it before. It was so pure, so absolute. If he knew one thing, it was that he would find this man and kill him. There was nothing else, there could be nothing else. He got his breathing under control, and drifted off into sleep.
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He awoke some time during the day the next day. The sun was already high in the sky, and Jeiku assumed it was roughly lunch time. He stood up, stretching his back. Everything felt sore. Why was he so sore? What had happened the night before? And then he remembered. He felt a pit in his stomach, and his head hurt, but he slowly made his way to the town. After buying a small something to eat, he headed out, on his way back to the Cloud Village.
He said nothing to anyone else in the town; he did not speak to the doctor, he did not speak to the parents. He bought breakfast, and he left. He was done with this town; he was done with all of this. He needed time to recuperate, somewhere happy, and somewhere safe.