He followed Morino back to the cell he had been kept in before. Or at least, he thought it was the same cell. It felt like an equally long walk, but the world kept blurring out of focus and he felt like he was dragging his feet, slowing down the process of returning to the cell. It wasn't that he was reluctant, well not more than expected, but his energy was gone, and moving and focussing was hard. Morino didn't push, or rather pull him by the chain around his neck to hurry but seemed to want to give him the time he needed. The small walk left him heaving for breath and it left him feeling vulnerable and weak.

His mind felt heavy. The usual debate that seemed to be ever going had grinded to a halt, not allowing him to process what had just happen nor the consequences of it. The only thing that was clear and kept repeating in his mind over and over again was the small nod and the emphasized 'need' from the Hokage. It had meant everything to him. It made it easier, at least for now, to comply and obey. Somewhere deep within him he still distrusted everyone at the moment, but hope blossomed a little stronger, giving him something to hold on to in this very dark time.

The heavy stone door was opened and revealed exactly the same as before. Cold and impersonal, lacking any and all forms of humanly possible comforts. He stopped at the door, apprehensive for going back into the darkness. Morino gently pulled the boy inside by the chain, almost pitying him as he saw the exhausted stumble, but proceeded to do his job anyway. He unhooked the chain, only to replace it with the shackles attached to the wall. He also released the shackles keeping the boy's hands behind his back, allowing him more movement freedom than most prisoners got. A point of luxury, even if it was just this, was all he could give right now.

The shackles attached to the neckband glowed in the dimly lit room, before settling in steely coldness again. Morino watched the last of the boy's strength get sapped away and sink to the cold stone floor, nothing to catch him or soften his fall and Morino made no effort to make the situation any more comfortable. Instead, he averted his eyes, turning around and walking out of the cell. The door closed with a definitive thud, casting the boy back into darkness. It was one of the first and only times Morino Ibiki felt like he didn't like his job.

It was dark when he opened his eyes again. Dark and silent. Hard and cold. There was nothing here except his own mind to keep him company and as soon as he had woken up, he wished to be asleep again. At least in his dreams he saw something, even though it were nightmares he saw at the moment. The darkness was crushing him. The little hope he pulled out of the comment from the Hokage was dimming down with each passing moment. Endlessly time dragged on as scenarios of every possible outcome came to mind. The best were amazing, the worst literally induced nightmares and every one in between seemed to never have the outcome he wished for.

The shackles left him drained of charka and of energy. They were only long enough to walk a few steps and it seemed to get shorter every time he stood and walked to stretch his legs. Over time he also felt like the band around his neck was shrinking, cutting off more and more of his breath. It wasn't real, but the darkness had started seeping into his mind and suffocated him. His mind ran with it, making the situation worse than it really was. The confinement made him claustrophobic.

Over time problems arose, very serious and very physical problems. Nobody had come to his cell yet, and in the first two days nobody had visited either. Back than he had been able to scurry to the other end of the cell, but now he was restricted by the length of the shackles. The stone floor also didn't absorb anything, meaning he was sitting not ten feet away from his own waste. Not haven been given food or drink in the time he had been here, including the first two days, meant he didn't produce much, but what he did produce was concentrated and the smell was enough to make the little hunger he had built up disappear. It hurt, though, the hunger and the thirst, but he ignored it. It wasn't the first time he had been so hungry, but it had been six years. The memories of that time just added fuel to his already messed up mind.

Time and time again he wondered if he had been forgotten, cast aside now that he was too much of an effort, but the demon within reminded him that he was a precious weapon, if nothing else. He was a trump cart, a power play in the politics of current day society. That left the question whether this was meant as a form of torture, a way to break his mind. Well, joke's on them, his mind couldn't be broken any further than it already was. He chuckled in the darkness, only getting silence in return. The damn cell wouldn't even give him an echo.

Boredom settled in, making everything worse. It amazed him that something so simple as being bored could make this worse. Wasn't it already a silent Hell? Did it really need to be worse? Restless energy made him want to move, but he didn't have enough movement freedom to do so. There was nothing to focus on in the cell, so he found his own way to focus on something. He began running his fingertips up and down the wall he sat against with his back. He dragged his nails up and down, feeling the rough structure of the wall scrape his skin. The feeling became soothing, the repeated motion became familiar and addictive. Up, down, again, again. Slowly, the wall carved with his persistent motion, along with his nails. The grooves that formed in the wall behind him fitted his fingers perfectly. His nails became more pointed and sharper with every stroke. It was a way of fidgeting, of coping, at least for now.

The silence was finally broken in the same way it was before. Footsteps echoing in the hallway beyond the stone door. Footsteps that made his heart jump in the hopes of finally seeing something other than darkness. Every step seemed to take an eternity as he waited excitedly for whatever was coming. It didn't matter anymore what it was, anything was welcome now.

The footsteps stopped and two voices conversed at the other side of the door. So close, and yet so far. He let himself fall into silence, using all his focus on the conversation on the other side, but he couldn't make out the words. They were too muffled by the thick stone, but he did make out one of the voices had an angry tone in it. A slightly familiar voice. The other voice stuttered in what he could only imagine being excuses for something he had done, or not done.

All the sudden, the door was pushed open. The light from the torch burned his eyes even worse than the first time and he averted his face to stop it from burning. "God damn it, Asahi, what the Hell were you thinking?" Morino pushed the other man standing in the door opening aside and walked into the cell. Morino didn't waste any time to undo the shackled that led to Naruto's neck and lifted him up. In the state Naruto was in, he didn't have the energy to process that Morino took him out of the cell. It just felt warm and safe for the moment. "Clean this cell out, konoyarou, then come report to me!" Morino snapped over his shoulder as he walked away.

Asahi stood there for a second, sighed and went to do as he was told. When he stepped into the cell and saw the deep carvings stained red with blood in the wall where the boy had been seated, his mind was made up that he had acted the right way. When he heard he was the assigned guard to take care of Naruto, a plan had seeped into his mind. He had shared the plan with a few like-minded friends and then executed it. He had hoped to starve the demon during his stay. As long as no one found out, it was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, he was found out and now he had to answer to Morino for what he had done. It was enough to make him fear for his life.

Morino carried Naruto though the endless hallways to a sort of medical room. It had the same stone walls and stone doors, but there were a few metal stretchers in the room. There were also a few small cabinets on wheels, locked tightly and set away from the stretchers. The same type of shackles were also attached to the stretches and he feared Morino would place them on him again. The small rest he got in the time he was carried here had made him able to clear his mind. For however little it was, it was a relief to be able to think at least a little.

He was placed on the cold metal of one of the stretchers, but Morino made no effort in placing the shackles on him again. He sighed in relief and when Morino took a step back, giving him some space, he curled onto his side and just wanted to go to sleep. Before he could, he felt hands on him. With weary eyes he focussed on the owner of the hands, a man in a white coat holding a needle attached to some kind of tube. He recognized it as an I.V. and just let the doctor do his work, letting himself sink into a blissfull sleep.

Waking up in the light of the medical room was such a stark contrast to the cell, he wondered if it was just another nightmare waiting to make a turn for the worst when he opened his eyes. He sat up with half-lidded eyes and let his eyes wander around. The doctor sat in a corner, writing in a file and Morino had left.

He shifted, noticing a sheet pooling in his lap and realising that for the first time since getting here, he wasn't actually feeling cold. The rustling of the sheets had gained the attention of the doctor, who turned around and smiled at him. "You're awake. Good." The doctor stood up and walked to the door. He talked to someone just outside the door, before closing it again and smiling at him once again. "Just wait for a while." He said kindly, before turning back to the work at hand.

Minutes dragged by but compared to the last days it was only a moment. The doctor hadn't said anything else and Naruto hadn't either. He enjoyed the warmth and relative comfort of the moment.

The door opened, revealing Cat stepping inside, his eyes shifting anywhere but to Naruto as he shuffled into the room. If Naruto hadn't still been restrained by the collar around his neck, he would have forced a Genjutstu into Cat's mind that would have actually killed him. Instead, he needed to settle for glaring so fiercely at the man, it actually made him stumble back. It was enough to get the doctor to look up and at seeing the situation, he chuckled, picked up his clipboard and walked out the room. "Good luck, kitten." He said with a wink, slapping a hand on Cat's shoulder as he walked passed. Cat just smiled back awkwardly and then let his eyes wander back to Naruto.

"Uhm..." He started. Naruto ignored him, turning his back to him and laying back down on his side. "I'm sorry. I should have been here sooner, but I couldn't get permission. I've spent the last days begging to see you, but they all refused to listen. I ended up going to the Hokage just to force the issue, so... here I am?" Cat rattled, trying to right his wrong, but he didn't get a reaction in return.

Letting go of all caution, Cat walked over to the stretcher and kneeled in front of Naruto. "Listen to me, and listen carefully, because this is a complicated matter and I've only been given a few minutes. There are people that are trying to destroy you. You know this better than anyone. Even if you had been seen just walking in the neighbourhood of that alley at roughly the time of the murder, they would have made you a suspect. It doesn't matter that you are innocent, because you are, I know that, but they want you gone. We are trying our hardest to get this sorted, but you need to know that at this moment, we need to avoid any and all indication of a positive relationship towards you. If they get their way, everything we bring in as evidence will be thrown out, but if we show we are impartial towards you, they will have no grounds to do that with. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Cat sought eye contact while he spoke. He felt dread at seeing Naruto like he was now. His features more animalistic and the definite weightloss made his stomach hurt. It wasn't right to see his boy like this.

Cat couldn't stop himself from placing his hand on Naruto's cheek, swiping the strands of hair out of his face as he looked at Naruto with a pained expression. The glistening tears running down Naruto's face didn't make him feel any better about what he had done. "We knew they were planning something, and we knew we needed to act partial to them when the time came for them to make their move, but we never had time to inform you. I stopped them from beating you up after they tied you, but even that I have had to explain away. I know I hurt you. That was a horrible moment and I hate having done that to you, but you need to believe me now. The Hokage and I have spent every moment working to get you free." Cat was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Shit, I need to go. Just... Just hang in there, okay? We're working on it. Alright? Please?" Cat stood up and walked away.

"How long?" Naruto asked, sitting up and looking at Cat

" What?"

"How long have I been here?" Naruto clarified.

"Six days. You've been here six days." Cat looked upset for this. "Listen, I heard from Morino. The guard that was assigned to you is now in a cell of his own. Morino will personally take care of you from here on out. It'll be a little better." Another knock made him look up at the door again. "I need to go. I'm sorry." Cat walked out of the room after that, not looking back once.

The six days had been hell. Just darkness, hunger and thirst. The only interruption a quick interview with the Hokage and now this fleeting visit from Cat. But the amount of information made determination blossom within him once again. Maybe he wasn't as abandoned as he thought he was and by the sound of it, Morino was an ally in this as well, or at least impartial in this all, meaning he'd treat Naruto fairly.

The doctor walked in after Cat left, a happy sparkle in his eyes. He sat himself down again at the desk and once again picked up his work. For a short moment Naruto wondered what kind of work the doctor could have in this otherwise empty medical room, but the thought was driven from his mind as Morino entered.

Morino beckoned, and Naruto stood up, ready to follow, but he did keep a strong grip on the sheet he had been sleeping under, hoping against hope he might get to take it with him. He looked at Morino with begging eyes, reverting back to his childish self, big eyes and an almost pout. Morino sighed and just turned around. What Morino didn't see, but the doctor did, was the big smile that appeared on Naruto's face for getting this little gift. The doctor smiled back as Naruto left the room.

It was back to the cell, but this time Morino didn't hook him to the shackles and the cell had been cleaned out. Naruto stepped into the cell, hugging the sheets to his chest and turned around to look at Morino. Morino looked back at him and then closed the door, casting Naruto once again into darkness. The whole exchange, from the moment Morino had come to collect him to the moment the cell door closed was done without a word, but not without meaning.

He sat back against the wall again and counted his blessings. One: clean clothing. Two: a blanket. Three: A clean cell and no shackles. Four: Cat and the Hokage believed him. Five: Morino seemed to have a weak spot for him. And six... He grinned into the darkness and held up his hand. After a moment of nothing, a small amound of chakra focussed into his palm, lighting his face and casting a dancing shadow behind him in the room. Six: They were still underestimating him.

Maybe he had more power in his current position than first met the eye.

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