Blood of the Broken, Scars of the Spiral (there are whirlpools in our veins)

Chapter Twenty Seven

"The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear."

 - Aung San Suu Kyi

//

Now that he had a mask and a 'name', Naruto was moved from what he now assumed was the room for fresh recruits to his more permanent quarters. The new room contained two sets of double bunks, two sets of drawers, and, to Naruto's surprise, bunkmates.

He was disgusted to realise that his new bunkmates were about the same age as him; one of the boys in the bunk opposite was around seven-years-old too and the other two, a boy also in the bunk opposite and the girl who shared Naruto's bunk, were perhaps two or three years older. The girl wore a rabbit-mask, Usagi, while the younger boy wore a fish-carp-mask, Koi, and the older boy wore a bear-mask, Kuma. Naruto didn't actually have time to trade pleasantries of any sort with his new bunkmates before Buta and Washi were marching them all to training.

For any training exercises where he wasn't paired against either Buta or Washi, Naruto was paired with Usagi. This wasn't actually to any benefit to him– Usagi had clearly been training much longer then Naruto's measly week and left Naruto on the floor spitting blood more often then she didn't, but Naruto couldn't find it within herself to resent the girl in the rabbit-mask. That would be cruel. Usagi was trapped in a wretched situation and she genuinely did not know any differently.

It made Naruto sick.

Training with three others at least meant that Buta and Washi's attentions were split between them and for the first time after returning to the bunk-room following the usual dinner of tasteless rice, steamed vegetables and plain-cooked meat and their hands and ankles were bound to the bed frames and the lights extinguished, leaving them in a blanketing darkness, Naruto for once wasn't so exhausted that he immediately fell asleep.

Instead, he retreated to his mindscape, activating Mito's seal to wake his ancestress before slipping through the sakura branches to greet Kurama with a quick hug, breathing in the scent of fox-musk and pure-raw chakra. "Silly little vulpine," Kurama sighed, even as Mito groaned and muttered something undoubtedly unflattering about Naruto's sanity under her breath. Naruto couldn't help the way his smile hitched at Kurama's nickname for him and they immediately snarled. "Don't you dare give ownership of the name I gave you to that pitiful meat-sack!" They spat. "Do not ever forget that it was never his to give, it was already yours!"

"I won't forget, I promise you," Naruto vowed, a weight lifting off his shoulders that she hadn't even fully acknowledged until that moment. Kurama made a grumpy sound and shoved him towards the bars of their cage with a sweep of one of their tails. Naruto went along with the momentum of the push, slipping through the tangle of ink-black branches and into Mito's welcoming arms.

"Oh my little seastar," his ancestress said, warm and despairing both, and Naruto couldn't help but laugh even as he leaned greedily into the embrace, not realising how starved he'd been of friendly touch until the moment it was offered.

"How are you?" Mito asked gently and Naruto gave a weary laugh.

"Oh, I'm absolutely awful," he said, almost giggling at the absurdity of such a statement, "I'm always tired, always in pain, and at least one part of me is bleeding at all times. Even if I get to free my chakra, actually killing a shinobi who figured out how to live as long as Shimura isn't goin' to be easy. Which means the assasination seal's gots to be perfect, which means I gotta practice. At least I probably moved up from new recruit status to a lowly recruit, so I don't hafta deal with two instructors for just myself anymore and I actually have the energy for sealing practice for the first time since this shitshow started."

"Well then," Mito said, her eyes stormy with determination, "we best not waste this opportunity. Are you ready?"

"I am," Naruto agreed, pulling back. "Let's start."

//

Naruto didn't actually get an opportunity to talk to Usagi, Koi or Kuma without either of the instructors around until nearly three weeks after he was first introduced to them. This was because after they were bound to their bunks, the lights in their bunk-room were extinguished and the three children would stay dead silent and Naruto would either sleep, turn his attention inward to his mindscape, or practice shaping his chakra under his skin.

Kuma was the one who broke the pattern. It was after a day where Usagi, Koi and Kuma had been taught a basic clone jutsu by Washi while she was made to spar against Buta and after the lights were extinguished and Washi's footsteps faded behind the closed door, the boy spoke up.

"Why didn't they make you learn the clone jutsu?" He asked.

Naruto almost didn't answer, he was so shocked at the sign of individuality in the form of the boy's simple curiosity. Then he almost didn't answer, because he wasn't sure what the consequences for answering would be, if any of the Root operatives overheard them. Then, finally, he wondered if she had truly been beaten down so far, so quickly, that he would hesitate to make innocent conversation with another kid for the first time in weeks, for fear of potential consequences. And so, he answered.

"They didn't make me because I can't use chakra outside of my body," he explained.

"Why not?" Piped up the other boy, the younger one– Koi.

"Because they bound it," he answered honestly.

"Why would they cripple their own asset?" Usagi asked, sounding confused. "That doesn't make sense."

"Yes it does," Kuma said softly, and Naruto was delighted to hear that the boy sounded intrigued. Because he alone of the three children seemed to understand; for why else would they cripple their own asset, unless they were afraid?

Because they were afraid; they were afraid of what the abuse they called conditioning might release, and they were right to be afraid, for the destruction of a bijuu was a terrifying thing and Naruto planned to make each and every one of their fears come true.  

A/N

Happy Sunday, and Happy Easter if that applies to you!

Sai (Koi) my beloved. I adore him, my friends think that it's ironic that I hate Sasuke and yet I love his replacement. But I can help it, I love my emotionally stunted children.

Stay safe, I love you ♡

Bye!