Disclaimer; all rights to the Naruto franchise is owned by Shonen jump and Masashi Kishimoto.

Author's note: This chapter was meant to expand on the darker stuff we've seen in the anime, most notably; the fact that human experimentation is alive and well in the Narutoverse, as such this chapter may be relatively serious in comparison with other chapters (still going to inject humour into it, though).

Parts written in this style represents a character's internal monologue/conscience/voice in their head. (it depends on what you think would be funnier).

"This might actually work" My co-worker says as she cross references an old-world document with her own calculations and notes.

"Yeah, in theory" her partner interjects as he looks over her shoulder "there's no guarantee that the craft would survive the G-force, let alone the air resistance involved in the ascent stage."

She waves his concerns away "we only need these to convince the public, whether or not it actually works in any practical sense is neither here nor there."

I give her work a glance, it appears as though these documents are (accurately) describing the mechanics involved in a linear accelerator, albeit on a massive scale; large enough to fire the upper stage of a space worthy rocket into the upper atmosphere.

As impressive as it is, it's also totally unfeasible.

"Nobody's going to believe this" I tell them "the energy requirements alone could cause a city-wide blackout; and that's if we're being unreasonably optimistic with our calculations"

My co-worker sighs and rolls her eyes "I iterate; it doesn't have to work, it just needs to look convincing enough for the public to go along with it" then she opens up a folder and shows it to me "also, you should probably start taking a look at what we can do with the right seal arrays"

I scoff; how much a difference can these seals possibly make?

My jaw drops as I go over the equations on the folder.

Holy crap.

"How?" I ask in disbelief and awe.

My co-worker smirks "Chakra converts to other forms of energy at an extraordinarily efficient rate" she huffs in amusement "so much so that one can say it outright breaks the laws of physics"

As the surprise wears off, I begin to collect myself "It says here that it needs a living being to supply the flow of chakra, how many people would we need to power this?" I ask as I trace a finger over some figures.

"About a dozen" her partner replies nonchalantly "normal people, mind you, not ninjas or those trained to tap into their chakra reserves."

Of course, this society still condones human experimentation what else was I expecting?

Sure enough; here are the figures representing the 'input', the following numbers all add up.

Then I notice something; after all the calculations are done, the 'input' equals zero.

"So, what happens to the people we drain chakra from?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"Oh boy, here we go" she replies with a hint of frustration in her tone "Look kid, we use political prisoners, convicts, deserters, seditionists, and other dissidents as test subjects, resources, and if need be; ammunition" she tells me with a tone of finality "every other nation does this, we need to do this too or risk falling behind"

Her partner puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder "Just don't think about it too much; you'll sleep better"

"Tell yourself that you're 'just following orders'" she advises me "and that you signed a form that legally obliges you to carry out these orders or be strapped to the machine yourself"

Wait, WHAT?

"It was on the recruitment form" she says, noticing my look of surprise "you should've read the fine print"

I fucking hate fine prints.

"Remember the first time you ran an experiment that drained a set of test subjects like that?" her partner asks her with a jovial tone (that sounds just a little strained)

"How could I forget? It was a bunch of peasants that accused a noble of corruption; they were right of course, but the court sided against them anyway" she says, reminiscing on what I assume must have been her childhood "by the time we finished, I couldn't stop puking for an hour afterwards."

"and you begged the gods to forgive you" he says clapping her on the back "If I recall correctly; you had to be dragged out of the temple"

"and I dreamed of my eternal punishment for almost three months, with demons dragging off my soul as I begged for the same mercy I myself failed to show" she finishes with a smile that gradually fades into a grimace "I-I need a drink." she gets up and briskly walks to the door "Now!"

"Probably wasn't a good idea to dredge up that particular memory" her partner mutters as he gets up "that being said, I need a drink too, need to blur the past a bit" I hear him continue, sounding pained as he leaves "what do ma and pa know? I did it for science, not like I enjoyed it…much" he rambles.

Something tells me that alcohol and spite are coping mechanisms for them.

Later that evening

I'm back home, helping run the store while dad and Ayame get the ingredients they need for some new dishes they wanted to add to the menu when a dejected looking Moka walks in.

"Ramen, extra-large" Moka calls out as she plops down on a chair, looking as though she's in over her head with something.

"Bad day?" I ask as I prepare her order

"I…" she begins "I fucked up" she sighs

"Wanna talk about it?" I ask

"might as well" she mutters as she begins "I should've read the fine print on that contract"

"Go on" I motion as I scoop up her noodles

"I was told it was a promotion, one that came with a pay rise" she continues, burying her head in her hands "they said I could reach my full potential doing research as opposed to working at the hospital"

"I hear you" I say as I continue work on her order

"Then they told me I'd be transferred to a research team, one that deals with stuff from the old world, turns out it involved biological warfare" she continues "and then I read the research notes; it was like reading a horror novel"

I pause "Then they dropped a bombshell on you"

"I didn't sign up for this" she blurts out in a panic "I didn't sign up to experiment on live humans, it'd be kinder just get it over with and execute them" she continues as though pleading for someone to tell her it'll be okay "you have to understand! If I back out, I'll be the one on the examination table!"

"I wanted to avoid the getting thrown into a squad, but I still wanted to help the village" she says "I should've kept my head down, should've read the fine print"

she shakes her head in worry "my dad told me that the fine print held all the iffy bullshit, should've listened to him"

"Eh, the fine print's a lot like a gigolo; it screws anyone who agrees to it" I shrug as I hand her the bowl

"you're telling me" she says as she begins eating

"If it makes you feel any better; I fell for the same trick" I reply as I lean on a wall "for me, it was a choice between linking a bunch of poor sods to a machine that fatally drains them of their chakra or be hooked up the same machine myself"

"Misery loves company" she replies after slurping down some noodles

"to be fair; this is a ninja village" I shrug "if anything, I'm surprised it took them this long to force us to do something like this"

She sighs sadly "So easy to forget sometimes"

Next day

I was told to report to one of the training fields to oversee the test firing of something one of the teams put together, as it turns out; a team managed to slap together working prototype of a mass driver.

"You put this together in one night?" I ask, genuinely impressed at the fact that they managed to design and build what is essentially a miniature, chakra enhanced Gauss gun.

"Never underestimate the power of inebriation" My (hungover) co-worker from yesterday slurs out as she holds an ice pack to her head "Now if you excuse me; I have to lie down, your victi…er…I mean 'test subject' should be here any minute, we've already activated the seals so all you need to do is strap them in and flip the switch"

I look over the research notes, it's smudged and messy, as though it was written and amended several times by someone who was very drunk.

Nevertheless; most of it is still legible.

After skimming through it, I let out a sigh of relief; it only drains a small amount of chakra, nowhere near enough to kill anyone.

Can't quite make out what that bit about side effects said, but I'm fairly certain that it said that they were 'manageable'.

That's a relief; I have not mentally prepared myself to commit murder via depraved indifference.

A note attached to the file is a reminder that I either carry out the experiment or take the place of the subject myself.

They just have to hammer that point home, do they?

I sit down on a stool nearby and read the dossier on the subject while waiting for them to arrive.

According to this file, the subject was a butler in the employ of the daimyo but was sentenced to death for the crime of lese majeste after saying something about the daimyo's favourite pair of frilly breeches.

Well sucks for him, but what can I do about it?

At least that's what I tell my conscience; which is currently (metaphorically) nagging at me to do the right thing for once in either of my lifetimes.

Later

"Are you sure it's safe?" the subject asks as I strap him down to the prototype.

"Full disclosure; it isn't" I tell him as I tighten the restraints "but since it's scaled down, it won't cause any permanent damage"

He looks at me with scepticism

"okay, it probably won't cause any permanent damage" I amend "I'd say it's a 50/50 chance of being relatively harmless"

"and you're okay with this?" he continues

"Not really, I'm being dragged along for this ride too" I answer holding my hands out in a placating gesture "signed a contract; got caught up in the shady stuff they slipped in, you know the deal"

"W-will this hurt?" he asks tentatively

"Can't say for sure" I reply as I load a steel slug in the breach "but to be honest; I'm fairly certain that it will"

He audibly gulps.

"Look, if it were up to me, you'd be blitzed on the most potent cocktail of painkillers and opioids the medics can cook up" I say trying to empathize with him as I adjust the dials on the control panel.

My hand hovers over the big red shiny button.

He looks me straight in the eyes, as though pleading with me, imploring me not to go through with this.

I sigh and roll my eyes "yeah, yeah I know the drill; I'm sorry I have to do this, blah blah blah, I'm sure you're a wonderful person and etcetera, we'll send word to your loved ones if you have any, insert assorted words of comfort here, are you reassured yet?"

He shakes his head, his eyes alive with fear.

"I already said this won't kill you, what more do you want?" I bark out.

"don't do it" he whispers "please"

"Don't you think you're being overly dramatic?" I ask "I mean; it's not going to kill you, just think of it as a stay of execution in return for a minute or two of…err…discomfort"

I've always wanted to see a railgun in action maybe even fire one; now I've got my chance.

I mash the button.

The machine hums to life and begins to glow in some places, the gauges and displays on the panel being flashing various numbers.

I jot down the numbers as fast as I can while the machine boots up.

The man begins twitching and grunting in what sounds like pain.

Then another display lights up and begins counting down from 100%.

That must be his chakra reserves (all living things have it after all).

I check the calculations, by now his reserves should be at about 95%.

I check the display; it reads 83%...

Wait.

His grunts turn to moans.

His reserves are now at 76%

They're being depleted too rapidly.

This isn't right.

Should probably abort the test, won't be able to sleep at night if he dies on my watch.

Reserves are at 70%

He begins screaming.

I press the abort button.

The machine continues charging.

I press it again.

Nothing happens

Now they're at 43%

I go through the schematics, frantically pouring over the barely legible script and scrawling as his screams pierce through the air while I try to find a failsafe.

There are none.

The air crackles with electricity and the air smells of ozone as the coils enter the final stage.

There has to be something I can do.

I study the schematics of the wiring.

If any theoretical deities watching, now would be a good time for some intervention…

There! If I sever those wires, the whole system shuts down.

Have to do it right order though, or the whole thing explodes.

Violently.

His screams fade, his reserves are at 29%

I put on the gas mask, if this goes south; at least I'll have some protection.

I kneel down but hesitate, although the control panel isn't connected to the 'power source' and thus any high voltage current or volatile materials I still don't want to be anywhere near the potential blast radius of the prototype.

On the other hand; I am wearing blast resistant clothing…

I've got no excuse at this point.

I nod, steel myself and begin severing the wires with a kunai, they spark as I put them to the blade, the gloves and jacket are insulated against electricity, so I shouldn't have any problems.

He's babbling, that's not a good sign.

I hope he pulls through, I really don't want to deal with manslaughter just yet.

Three wires left.

He's falls silent, but the machine's still charging.

I've still got a chance.

"Come on, Come on" I plead as I saw through the last wire.

Finally, the last wire snaps and sparks.

There's a sound like thunder ringing out from the machine's barrel, the sound barrier had been broken.

An instant later an explosion rings out, a direct hit.

At least we know the prototype works.

I look towards the man, he's still and silent.

He must be comatose.

Slowly, hesitantly, I rise, taking off my mask as I approach the man.

"Better not don't be dead" I murmur as I check his pulse

Shit, can't feel anything.

Not a thing.

Nothing.

"No, no" I breathe, my hands trembling "Oh, gods no"

He's dead.

I back away, my thoughts racing, countless emotions raging through my psyche "But I…The blueprints said…Not my fault"

And I vomit as I fall to my knees

Not my fault…

You were ever so eager to press the button, you did this.

It's not my fault, it's the ones who built this; their calculations were off, they were the ones who killed him, not me.

You should've checked the notes, you should've counterchecked their calculations, you should've tested the failsafes; you're responsible for this.

I never wanted this, I thought it'd just give him a jolt, that they'd just drag him away when we were done, I didn't mean for the machine to kill him.

He begged for his life you know? And what did you say to him? Was he being overly dramatic? Was this really a 'stay of execution'? You didn't even try to comfort him!

He was overreacting…

Liar.

I thought he was overreacting, I thought this would be another routine job with a twist, I how was I to know this would get him killed.

You had a chance to stop it.

And I took that chance, I cut those wires, I almost had it, I tried my best…

Liar.

You hesitated, you dawdled, even tiniest risk of a minor injury on your part was too great a price in your eyes for this man's life. That moment of hesitation meant his death.

Electricity is no joke, neither is concussive force, I had to ensure…

Liar.

The currents running from the control panel were too weak to deal any major injuries and you know it, your equipment would have protected you from the blast, you let him die.

I-I didn't…

What was his mistake? Speaking out of turn.

What is yours? Murder. You should have gone in his place, Murderer.

It wasn't murder, it was a mistake and nothing more.

I didn't kill him. The judges did, the others in the engineering corps did, the machine did.

My hands are clean, my conscience is clear, I did nothing wrong.

I'm not a…

Murderer.

I'm not…

Murderer.

I…

Murderer.

I'm a…

Murderer.

I'm sorry.

Murderer.

I'm sorry…

MURDERER.

Please, I had no choice I'm sorry…

MURDERER. MURDERER. MURDERER. MURDERER. MURDERER…

3rd person POV

Aki is walking towards the testing area, her hangover a memory soon to be drowned out with (more) alcohol.

She grumbles as she trudges to retrieve the prototype mass driver, if everything went according to plan; that test fire should be completed, the subject has 'paid his debt to society' and the brat ready to be 'moulded' for future experiments involving live subjects.

Sure enough, there she is, on her knees and muttering inaudibly, the subject motionless in front of her.

All according to routine, she's broken, traumatized and at the moment; very suggestible, best to strike while the iron is hot.

"Well shit" Aki says as she approaches the brat, who flinches, as though woken from a stupor "I take it the experiment didn't go as planned?"

The brat looks at the body, her expression panicked, scared and incredibly guilty.

The same reaction every researcher from the village wore when their first subject 'expired', the same one Aki herself had when she tested her first prototype.

"I never wanted to…" The brat begins to explain herself as Aki places a hand on the subject's neck, pretending to check for a pulse she knows full well isn't there.

Hammer it home, lay on the guilt "And yet you did, face it kid; you killed him, and I assume you did it in cold blood, there's blood on your hands and it's never coming off"

"I tried to save him" The brat blurts out "tried my best"

Not like she could've anyway, the prototype was rigged to speed up the chakra drainage rate if anyone tried to stop it or tried to cut the wires

Failure was the only option.

Best not to let her know that part; let her think she had a chance to save a life but squandered it.

"Did you, did you really?" Aki asks, tinging her voice with accusation.

The brat recoils as though struck.

Time for another blow "Was there begging? These ones usually beg when they get strapped in"

The guilt on the brat's features deepen.

Perfect; not only did the subject plead, the brat probably brushed him off when she thought he was exaggerating, probably snarked about it too.

"Bet you thought it was pathetic, huh?"

The brat's trembling as stares at the subject.

Just a bit more.

"Well, I'll clean this mess up" Aki announces as she readies the prototype for transport "you look like you need a break"

The brat does not respond.

"take the rest of the day off, you've earned it" Aki says as she cracks a smile "oh one more thing; welcome to the club, murderer"

That makes the brat react.

"I had no choice, it was him or me" the brat pleads, clutching Aki's arm "please, you have to believe me, I'd take it back if I could, I'd do anything"

"even if…err, wait…hold on" Aki pauses as she wheels around and pulls out a handbook.

Thankfully the brat's too distraught to think too hard about this.

Aki skims through the manual, looking for the section about dealing with trainees.

"Ah, here it is" she mutters to herself "even at the cost of your own life?" she recites mechanically.

Again, the brat's too traumatized to care about the fact that the person she's talking to is literally reciting a line from a book.

"I…I don't…" the brat struggles.

Aki breathes a sigh of relief; that was close, the good news is that the guilt is crushing the brat, but she's too much of a coward to put her own neck on the line.

"Face it kid; you're a killer, just like the rest of us" Aki replies "Everyone who signed up for this will inevitably end the life of another; it was about high time you faced this fact of our life"

"None of us are good people, that much is certain" Aki continues as she places a hand on the brat's shoulder "You, me, the rest of our corps, anyone who gets involved in research; we're all horrible people"

"What do I tell my family…" the brat mutters

Aki consults the book again "let's see; familial bonds…Ah! here it is"

The book says that a healthy family relationship may cause a trainee to develop empathy for their fellow human beings and is thus considered detrimental to the process of moulding young minds into stoic, unfeeling, apathetic assets.

"…what would Ayame and dad say?" the brat rambles

"Not sure what it's like, for a caring 'insert parental figure here' to have raised a cold-blooded killer" Aki says as she repeats a recommended line from the book.

"Wait, what?" The brat looks up at Aki, puzzled.

Aki curses internally; she shouldn't have read that one aloud.

"Look, kid; the point I'm trying to make here is that your father and sister are good people" Aki says regaining her composure "they wouldn't understand; they might still care for you, but they'll never look at you the same way"

Aki consults the book again "would you really saddle them with your issues, your guilt?"

"wouldn't be fair to them…" the brat mumbles

"But I understand your problems" Aki offers, taking a line from the book "me and the others at the workshop; we've been doing this for years after all"

Establish a rapport and make an attempt to supplant any familial bonds, just as the book advises.

Aki reaches out and gives the brat a comforting pat on the shoulder "You can talk to us, you can trust us, we're here for you"

the brat hesitates "Thank you" she finally breathes out in something resembling relief.

"that's what I like to hear" she says clapping the brat on the back "Now go on home, get some rest and take tomorrow off; you're going to have to learn to live with blood on your hands"

Ayano's POV

"So how was work today?" Dad asks me as we're seated at the dinner table.

"It was…fine, dad" I mutter "nothing much to talk about"

'They won't understand…'

He looks at me, his gaze filled with doubt "Ayano, I raised you, so I know when something's troubling you; if you have any problems, you need to tell me"

'Not sure what it's like, for a caring 'insert parental figure here' to have raised a cold-blooded killer'

That was very strange way for her to say it, but she's right, I can't let them know about this, they don't need to deal with this, I shouldn't force him to deal with my screwups.

"it's fine, dad" I reply as I take a drink "everything's fine"

'Liar.'

I am aware of that, conscience. Thanks for reminding me.

"Did you kill someone?" Ayame asks as she puts a comforting hand on my shoulder

I choke halfway through said drink.

HOW DID SHE KNOW?

'MURDERER'.

Not now, conscience!

Ayame notices my expression of surprise and remorse.

"Ayano, we live in a ninja village, everything we earn is blood money or related to it, some of our customers sometimes boast about their most memorable assassination missions and we know how that usually pans out" Ayame points out "We knew from the second you signed up at the academy that something like this would happen sooner or later"

How is she okay with this?

I can't tell them…

Can I?

"I fucked up, I really fucked up" I sigh, placing my head in my hands "I had no choice, I'm sorry…" I ramble

The two of them fall silent.

"You want to talk about it?" Dad asks

'would you really saddle them with your issues, your guilt?'

I hesitate.

It's tempting, but I can't just dump my crap on them like this, they don't need this in their lives.

"Not today" I answer "just, please…not today"

"Okay, sis" Ayame says as dad nods "but if you ever need help, we're right here for you"

They shouldn't have to help me.

"Thank you" I say as we return to our meal.

'…but I understand your problems me and the others at the workshop; we've been doing this for years after all'.

But the others at the workshop understand, they would listen.

Maybe I should trust them…

Author's note; Well this chapter was probably different from the others, I hope I didn't make it too serious. Thank you for reading; if you have any thoughts, advice or suggestions for future chapters you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them.