Chapter 40 - Another Tangled in the Web

Tenten rushed Ekyt straight to Tsunade. Ever since he had lost consciousness, Tenten had hurried, not wanting him to die, especially not after she had done her best to save him. It was strange that Ekyt wasn’t feeling too much pain from the poison- Tenten would have been able to tell if there were muscle spasms, and she would be able to hear it if he yelled out. But he had been silent. Even if he was unconscious, if he was that hurt, he would be twitched.

Best to ask Lady Tsunade herself…hang in there, Ekyt!

--

In Ekyt’s mind, he was conscious, and still debating Orochimaru’s words.

“The void in me…it exists, I can agree with that. But what about that whole ‘training alone can’t fill the void?’. That can mean a lot of things. Strength, love, my past…the way Orochimaru put it, despite what he said, the WAY he said what he did said that I could still fill this void. Do I WANT to? Or am I really a complete person without it? Do we all have a void? Does the void mean ‘regret’? If it wasn’t so open to interpretation. The only thing I can do is train. I’ve read every scroll I could find…now it’s time to read the ones I haven’t found. There must be a library or something in the Leaf Village…I’ll have to ask about it, see if I can find it. I’m definitely going to be too hurt to do missions. That sucks, but maybe it’s one of those ‘blessings in disguise’…If nothing else, I can focus on what Orochimaru said…even if he is a liar, those words rang true with me for a reason…It was no mind trick on his part, that would have been dispelled already. That means that those words touched a nerve, and it’s not a nerve I can afford to ignore.”

--

Tsunade had begun work on Ekyt right away. As she worked, she found the strangest thing. Well, surprising anyway.

“His body…this poison has built up in him so much so often that he’s developing an immunity to it. That explains why he recovered so quick compared to Hayate. Shizune, how long did Hayate receive treatment, and when did his affliction begin?”

Shizune flipped through some papers, while Sakura performed a genjutsu to ensure Ekyt didn’t wake up to find Tsunade working on him.

“He was infected almost seven years ago- that’s going by our own guesswork. His treatment began three months ago.” Shizune looked at Ekyt, trying to think about his treatment. “By comparison, Ekyt’s treatment began and ended two days ago, while he was infected a scant few months ago.”

Tsunade grunted in thanks, picking at a stubborn pocket of poison behind Ekyt’s knee.

“Sakura, made a cut a quarter-inch below the back of his knee. I’m going to have to push the poison out, my chakra can’t suck it up in such a difficult spot. After that, we’re all done here. Shizune, please tell Tenten and her party that he’ll be fine.”

Shizune bowed out of the room, saying ‘Yes M’lady’ as she did. Sakura concentrated as she made the precise cut. Perfect. Tsunade grabbed a vile off her desk and caught the poison as it was dripping out. At Sakura’s questioning glance, Tsunade explained that ‘if he could build up an immunity, or was close to it, then this has the possibility of being a vaccination. Those Mist ninja aren’t done with us yet.’

--

Tenten, Yuushi, Kantai, and four prisoners in chains waited for Shizune’s announcement.

“He’ll be just fine,” Shizune said, smiling widely. Tenten, Yuushi, and Kantai all exchanged sighs and glances of relief.

“Damn, I was hoping you were gonna tell us he was dead…” muttered the Mist jonin. That earned him three fists to the mouth, courtesy of three on-edge Leaf Ninja.

“Say that again, and I start cutting your body up. Nothing vital, just things that will hurt…THEN we’ll get to important stuff…” Yuushi growled, his sword under the chin of the Mist jonin. Kantai put a supportive hand on his shoulder, favoring the Mist group with a glare. Yuushi slowly lowered the sword, putting it away carefully. Tenten looked particularly relieved, much to the amusement of Shizune.

I’ve got to know…

“Tenten, will you come with me for a moment, please?” Shizune indicated with her head the direction to go in. Curious, Tenten followed her, wondering what she had to say that she couldn’t in front of the others.

--

Ekyt sat up, wincing at the cuts. Thankfully, the pain wasn’t too bad. That, or he had just gotten used to it. Either way, it was nice to be poison-free again.

“They got me pretty good, then?” Ekyt directed his question toward Tsunade, already bowing to her and Sakura in thanks.

“More or less…you’re lucky to have survived. But you helped us capture four enemy ninja…I think they’ll be interested in going home, so maybe we can do a prisoner trade, or something along those lines. At any rate…I’d like to know of your plans. You’ve been distracted, and that means you’re up to something. That is to say, something is bothering you enough to throw you off-track. Am I close? Oh, and please don’t BS me, I know you too well to fall for it.”

Ekyt didn’t bother lie. “I’d like to ask- is there a Hidden Leaf Library or something? The ones with the kind of scroll you don’t let everyone see? I need some new material to study, since missions are out at the moment.”

Tsunade had to laugh- “I was wondering when you were going to ask! Yes, it exists. And yes, you can go there. Keys are 3500 Ryo, though. But for that price, you’ll be one of the few with a key, and one of the fewer who go to this place.”

Sounded like a good deal to Ekyt.

“Sure, 3500 sounds fair. Just let me go thank everyone who helped me out, and I’ll take you up on that offer. Oh…could I have some time off. The leg kind of…complicates things…” Ekyt was referring to the cut Sakura had made, as well as the fact that his leg had been injured before this whole mess started.

“Absolutely, I would have forced you. Now, go on and talk to them, I’ll get you a key. But don’t tell too many people that this place exists. It’s for your benefit AND mine. Also, the materials can’t be removed, so you’d have to copy what you wanted by hand- not that THAT ever seems to be a problem for you, given the size of your personal scroll.”

Ekyt shrugged, talking up a bo of his own (Tenten had taken hers during his surgery) to use as a walking stick.

--

Shizune and Tenten walked to the opposite end of the building, giving them enough room between themselves and the others to talk.

“Tenten…listen, I don’t know how you feel about Ekyt, but if you DO like him…be careful.”

Tenten didn’t understand what Shizune was saying- the question had come out of left field.

“What do you mean? I mean, he’s a nice guy and a hard worker, what’s not to like? If you’re thinking I’m in love with him, that’s not the case at all! I haven’t done anything more than a comrade is supposed to, and I hope he hasn’t gotten any ideas…he hasn’t, has he?” It hit Tenten that her actions might be taken as provocative by Ekyt (A piggyback ride? What the hell had she been thinking- if they had been 10, sure! Then again, it WAS in the line of duty…), and she quickly wished she hadn’t been so nice. It was a relief when Shizune shook her head.

“No. I mean, he hasn’t said anything if he DOES have ideas. I’m just saying…if it happens, be careful. Because he’s very…how to put this…fragile. That’s all I’ll say, as it’s really not my business. I just don’t want to see him get hit with another tragedy. Between the illness, failing that proctor’s exam (New to Tenten), and Orochimaru’s words (also new to Tenten)…I’m really worried about him. That’s a lot for someone like him to absorb, and I’m just hoping he’s alright. And…thank you for taking care of him. Even if you didn’t do anything more than a comrade requires of another comrade, you did more than most.”

Tenten’s questioning look clued Shizune into the fact that she had said too much. “He failed a proctor’s exam? And what’s this about Orochimaru’s words? He fought him AGAIN?! Shizune-sensei, please fill me in- like it or not, I’m involved now that I’ve given him some trust…I’d like to be prepared, in case he spills his guts to me.”

Shizune really wished she hadn’t said anything now. How could she even begin to explain Ekyt’s inner-turmoil. It was bad enough Shizune knew, but now Tenten would know? It wasn’t hard to guess the kid had some problems, but WHAT they were…that was another matter, enough to turn some of the weaker jonin to jelly. Orochimaru? Maybe he wasn’t so scary to Ekyt…but why? Because Ekyt hadn’t grown up hearing about how terrifying he was? Or was it because he respected the Third Hokage so much that he had a grudge strong enough to bypass fear?

“Alright…” Shizune said finally. “I’ll tell you what I know. But you can’t tell ANYONE else, okay? Please promise me, Tenten. And even if you DO tell, don’t expect anyone else to understand. It’s not a long story, but it’s…complicated. Let’s just keep it between you and me, okay?”

Aieee! This is supposed to be secret! Oh no, why did I have to say anything?!

--

Ekyt didn’t find Tenten, but he DID find Yuushi and Kantai. The two seemed to be having a ‘moment’. Ekyt had heard of them, and read about them, but never experienced one. The kind of moment where only you and one other person exist- nothing else matters. You’re in your own world, and you couldn’t be happier. It was rare to find inner peace when an outer world was filled with turmoil. But Kantai and Yuushi had. Ekyt chose not to disturb them. Someone else could fill them in later. For the first time in a while, Ekyt smiled for real.

Hope I don’t become one of those people who lives through their kids…or their students. Either way…nice going, Yuushi. An adult name, your father’s sword…and now, a measure of happiness…it’s what you deserve…enjoy it, because you never know when it will happen again…

Smiling, Ekyt stepped back into Tsunade’s office, closing the door quietly.

-

Tsunade produced a brass key that looked very much like an ordinary skeleton key.

“Here you go…Just be warned, there ARE genjutsu hidden on some of the restricted materials. You can handle them, actually. Typically, I’d make you go with a jonin of Kakashi’s caliber…but somehow, I’m guessing you’d like this experience to be alone.”

Ekyt took the key, forcing a fake smile onto his face. “You’re right. I have a lot to think about. Besides that, I’d really like some new reading material. Maybe it’s because teamwork is rare for me, but I’m starting to understand the important of creating jutsus people have never seen, so they can’t defend against them so easily. I’ve had some ideas, and I thought that maybe some old ideas would work just as well as some new ones…”

Tsunade was surprised to hear that- it was hard to remember that this kid was twenty, when he looked like he was sixteen and acted like he was much older. What he said made sense. Truthfully, Tsunade was surprised she hadn’t been asked about this sooner by Ekyt. She wondered why, but didn’t ask.

“Just so you’re not shocked- the place is gigantic,” Tsunade remarked.

“How gigantic?”

“Take enough provisions for three days, you might get lost for a while. If you do, send one of your summons to me, and I’ll fish you out. But knowing you, you won’t want to leave. Oh, and one more thing- when you head there, always dress for cold weather, and make sure that you disguise yourself, as well as the path you take. Not everyone knows about this place, and it would be problematic if they became aware. So take every precaution you can. Oh, one more thing…” Tsunade rummaged around in her desk drawer. After a few moments, she dug up an earthen bottle.

“Here, you’ll need to drink this when you feel pain in your leg. No macho crap, because when you feel pain, that means some of the dregs of poison are acting up. This will kill that poison. You just need to drink one sip. Mix it with your sake, this stuff tastes like crap.” Tsuande made a face, remembering when she had made the batch- it was nasty stuff! Or so Sakura had said…like Tsunade was going to taste it herself. One of the perks of being Hokage…

Ekyt took the bottle and the advice with thanks. “By the way, there’s going to be a nasty fight at Amaguriama about now. I’d guess Naruto and Sasuke would be at it…again. Not to mention Sakura and Ino…” Ekyt smiled for real, thinking that this was perfect- all the people who would want to talk to him, maybe even follow him- they were all in a fight, in one place, not near where he had to go. Perfect. Wait…where DID he have to go.

“Where IS this library anyway?”

Tsunade gave a little smirk- she just couldn’t help herself? “What, you didn’t know? The Underground passages beneath the Hokage Faces- it’s the only place big enough to hold all records of the Leaf Village.”

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