Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general plot and OCs

As always no beta no editing barely any proof reading.

Okay so after uploading this, I don't know how long it will take because I have to focus on studies, I will be uploading at least two Kakashi chapters before this present chapter, and at least one immediately after this present chapter. These will cover Kakashi's journey, his discoveries and difficulties during Sonaru's kidnapping.

I haven't decided yet, but what I may do is write the first section of next chapter as from Sonaru's perspective and then switch to Kakashi's for the rest of it. Dunno, we'll see.

I don't know if you'll love or hate this chapter or feel meh, but I had a good time writing it.

(This is the most moral, compassionate, vulnerable, concerned, anxious part Sonaru's mental voice)

(this is also Sonaru's mental voice, angrier, selfish, impulsive, more politically incorrect, more nihilistic)

[This is the most logical Shinobi trained part of Sonaru's mental voice]

Thank you so much for awesome reviews, as well as favs and follows! Let me know what works, or what doesn't work for you, as well as any prompts for scenes you'd like to see.

Chapter 56 - Burn It Up

Kuchisake's whole body jerked, a disgusting but weirdly mesmerising wet rattle exited her mouth, the metal point piercing through the front of her throat, blood splashing against my face. Her bloodied mouth froze in its smile, I pulled the kunai free with a crunching slurp sound as more blood drenched my hand and my neck. She slumped to the side, her dimming gaze filled with love.

I stared, my heart pounding and a buzz behind my eye sockets, as blood soaked the white bedding beneath her body in a stunning display. I couldn't take my eyes off it.

(More)

In the back of my brain I sat silently screaming as my heart hurt, but the rest of me wanted to laugh in hysterical triumph. I'd done that.

(I want more)

(Careful. Don't get carried-)

(We have a witness to take care of)

My head snapped over to the remaining person in the room. Scarred'n'Scowly stared at Shion, his face pale white and his body shaking. At my movement he flinched, a frightened grimace creased his cheeks and scrunched his chin.

"Y-you... why..." he stammered, his voice trembling as much as his body.

Tears welled up as he looked at me like I'd betrayed him.

(If he can't see that I saved him then he's a liability)

(Have some heart, he's just seen the closest thing he has to a mother murdered)

(Exactly. She clearly fucked with his head like she tried with me, sexual abusers were often victims growing up. If I leave him here it's almost guaranteed. Best to end him now. It's practically a favour to him. Don't let him become that)

(I don't kill children)

(I didn't kill adults until a few seconds ago)

(No)

"She was going to hurt us really badly," I said, licking my lips afterward and immediately resisting the urge to lick my hands to get more of the delicious taste, "I had to stop her."

"N-no, no you don't understand," he began to shake his head, terror dripped from his words and tears from his eyes, "We do what Kaa-chan says, because everyone else is worse. Don't you see what you've done!? You've just made everything worse and we're going to get in so much trouble! We'll be told off by Nagao-taichou and he'll - he'll hurt us so, so bad!" By the end he was almost shrieking, his breathing rapid and shaky.

"We're not getting in trouble because we're getting out of here," I interrupted, trying to sound authoritative, but he was too far gone in his fear already.

"What are you talking about!? YOU'RE CRAZY! YOU CANT EVEN OPEN THE DOORS AND NOW WE'RE BOTH DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU - THERE'S NOWHERE TO GO THERE'S NO ONE LOOKING FOR US THIS IS MY HOME I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTH-"

My hand connected harshly with his cheek in a ringing slap, his screaming fear cut off abruptly.

(I can't believe I just hit a traumatised child)

(I've gone this far, I might as well kill him now)

(Shut the fuck up)

[Preventable death and suffering of children is in conflict with priority one; continued mental faculties. Unexpected mental effects of first kill in immediate aftermath must not be allowed to dictate a temporary failure to consider priorities]

(My morals are so inconvenient)

"Shut up and listen or we really will be dead," I snapped at him, "I know how to get the doors to this place open. What I don't know is how clear the halls are out there. Now I'm getting out of here and you can come with me or stay the fuck here."

His glossy eyes widened disbelievingly at me for a long moment, scanning the rest of my form drenched and splattered with blood. He shook his head more slowly than before, "This is my home."

Pained disappointment tightened my throat, but I swallowed over it and nodded. I couldn't afford to take a kid with me who was just going to be an intentional liability the whole time. If he wasn't willing to escape with me, I didn't have the skill or strength to force him.

"Fine," I shook my head and quickly pulled the first clothes in the drawers on; a small dress and shorts on. Tightening my tacky grip on the kunai, I turned determinedly to face Kuchi- the dead body. I needed to get that hand onto the handle of the door, and while I could drag the whole body and lift it with a bit of struggle, I certainly couldn't drag a dead body to the front gates.

[You only need the right hand]

(That's sick)

[It's practical]

I grimaced and muttered, "This is going to be gross," I crawled toward the body, my knees, shins and last clean hand getting stained red by the soaked cover and mattress. I ignored the fact that the slick blood squelching against my fingers felt pleasant and critically eyed the wrist.

Kunai weren't exactly designed for sawing entire limbs off and I pursed my lips in annoyance. Maybe I could slice away at most of the wrist and then snap the bones by applying momentum and force perpendicular to the bones. How much force was required to snap the wrist bones, though?

I shrugged to myself, I'd just err on the side of caution and put all my strength into it - plus maybe there was some ninja wire in her weapons pouch to help. I leaned over and removed her weapons pouch from her leg, emptying it out on the bed.

"What are you doing? That's Kaa-chan's," Scarred'n'Scowly challenged tremulously.

"She doesn't need it. I do," I replied shortly, briefly glancing at him. I frowned at goosebumps still covering his skin and the shivers wracking his form, "You should get dressed."

He ignored me, holding himself tighter. I didn't bother repeating myself. I eyed the contents with dissatisfaction - one more kunai, around eight metres of ninja wire, two senbon and ... lipgloss. I unscrewed the lipgloss hoping for perhaps a poison in disguise and gave the stick a sniff. Nope, just plain old lipgloss. No exploding tags.

I sighed in frustration but got on with slicing at the body's wrist. The blade edge drew a deep line into the skin with ease, blood burbling up to trickle down onto the sheet below and get my hands even bloodier.

Frowning in concentration, I focussed on not slipping and slicing my palm open, and achieving something that wasn't a completely hacked open wreck.

It was surprisingly time consuming. There wasn't just skin and flesh and bone to deal with, things were stringy and stretchy and fiddly to cut through. It was just a big bloody, slippery mess.

Finally I had a flayed, ragged ruin of a wrist and two scratched up bones to snap through. Scarred'n'Scowly had early on to vomit in the bathroom and I was fairly certain he'd missed the bowl. He hadn't returned since.

I haphazardly wiped the worst of the blood off my hands and onto the small amount of white still peeking through the bed sheet, turning to consider the last step. Ideally, I would have separated the hand from the arm at the thinnest part of the wrist where lots of delicate joints could have pressure applied in the wrong direction - the risk with that was my lack of knowledge about the exact location of the thing (implant?) in Kuchisake that allowed her to open the doors.

I'd had to cut a little further up the arm and I wasn't sure how much was force was required to snap a bone. I vaguely remembered that it was about 4000 Newtons of pressure to snap an adult femur, but people in this life were able to withstand something that would have killed the people in my original world and walk away with mere bruises - they were built much hardier.

Wrapping the ninja wire around the body allowed me to more easily heft the unwieldy mass off the soaked sheets and flop gracelessly onto the floor. The wire cut into exposed flesh, leaving incredibly clear evidence of my actions on the floor in the form of big red drag marks. I heaved the body across the room until I arrived at the hated metal chest and lifted the lid. Some work with a kunai and chakra allowed me to pry the front edge of the lid into a sharp jagged hazard, before I tied the right arm in place so that the exposed bones slotted directly on the lip of the chest.

I crawled up the wall behind the metal chest, lifted the lid toward me, took a deep breath, and then shoved myself with chakra enforced strength. The weaponised lid slammed shut with a deafening bang and a sharp crack, immediately followed by the thunk of a hand falling inside the chest and the slump of the body no longer held up by the wrist.

Quickly jumping off the lid, I opened the chest and revealed the treasure - the completely severed hand that was my ticket out of here. The ninja wire had been cut by the metal chest and the longest bit was now just under seven metres. Not wanting any to go to waste, I took the smaller wire, tied it around the wrist and then tied the whole thing around my neck to serve as the most macabre pendant.

Pleased with my arts and crafts skills, I looked at the collapsed corpse and, out of consideration for Scarred'n'Scowly, proceeded to do a hack job of stuffing the dead body in the chest. I carefully bent the metal back into shape as much as possible so that I could properly close the thing, then I locked it shut with a decisive click.

"Time to get out of here," I murmured to myself, collecting the weapons and putting them back in the pouch to wear. I approached the door, climbing up the wall to reach the handle and keeping a wary nose out for anyone on the other side, nervously grasping the cool limb at my throat.

I lifted the hand, and with barely a moment's hesitation, placed it on the handle of the door, guided the dead fingers to curled around the handle, and pulled down.

The handle locked up half way.

My pulse picked up and sweat began to bead on the back of my neck, "Come on, you fucker," I hissed desperately. I lifted my clammy hand and tried again with more force. The handle stuck again. It was still locked.

Sweat beaded on my forehead and nose, and my pulse raged in panic. No, I had checked through every memory I had, and fucking everyone opened the doors with their right hand. I was right! I knew I was right so why the fuck. Was the. Door. Not fucking. OPENING!?

Jiggling the door over and over again with increasing force proved to be futile, and I allowed myself to slip to the ground with an enraged and defeated sob.

My breath rasped in and out of my throat as I held back the urge to cry, and stared at the door in hatred.

"This should have worked," I croaked, with a shake of my head, "why doesn't this FUCKING WORK!" My voice rose to a scratchy scream and I bared my teeth at the door, at the facility, at everyone past that door who I just wanted to drop dead.

[All successful attempts at opening doors have included living limbs]

"It's got to be the presence of chakra... or... or heat, or a pulse," I guessed, sounding like I was begging.

A horrible thought occurred to me that it only worked with the person's specific chakra. But no, if they had technology that registered an individual's chakra and then switched on because of it, the civilian medical staff here would be fucked. The technology didn't exist to register such minute amounts in passive form. But this meant that it couldn't be chakra at all that was required for it to work.

It had to be pulse or heat emission; one of which I couldn't make a severed hand do.

My brain fuzzed in panic at how long I'd already taken to get out of the room and a clock mockingly ticked away in my thoughts.

I grit my teeth and glared at the severed hand, enraged by how difficult step one of escaping was turning out to be because of this stupid thing. With nothing else to do, unless I was willing to immerse the fucking thing in hot water until it warmed up and hope that worked, I recklessly shoved as much chakra as I could out of my hand.

I could feel it sluggishly fill the hand and then just linger aimlessly. Goddamn it! Frightened rage fill me as I tried and struggled and failed to make my chakra do anything of use to the hand. I wanted to murder and wreck something. I hated this place! I hated this hand! It should all just go fucking die in a big fiery explosion!

I wordlessly howled in blind rage when my chakra slipped out of my grasp again and squeezed the useless hand viciously. My vision sharpened, tinted ever so slightly red, and I smelt bloody tears ooze down my face at the activation of my Ketsuryūgan.

I felt my blood stronger than ever. Without another thought, I snarled and forced the blood drops to land on the severed hand, directing them to enter the limb and cycle through it like regular blood. I was almost surprised when my blood did so.

With only a half cocked idea and filled with fury, a grabbed a kunai and slashed along my forearm. Before the blood that rapidly pooled out of my wound could start dripping onto the floor, I threw all my willpower and seething anger behind my command of it to enter the dead limb.

My mind bent under the strain of forcing such a large amount, but I hissed in determination and glared at the blood until I could feel my pulse in my eyes. The blood slowly cooperated, and before my almost disbelieving sight bit by bit it drained into the hand around my neck.

The hand warmed, unnoticeable at first, and then quicker, until it all but felt like a living hand. Before I lost my concentration, I scrambled up the wall and slammed the palm down on the handle.

Nothing.

"COME ON!" I roared, "PULSE!"

My eyes and brain were starting to hurt and I felt overheated, but I forced the blood, in time to my own rapid heart beat, to cycle through the hand like a closed circuit. As soon as the blood reached the wrist, instead of pouring out of the limb, it would re enter through the arteries.

"Open up you fucking piece of shit!" I spat. Once more I closed the now warm and lightly pulsing hand around the handle, and pushed down.

There was no resistance. My chest heaved and my pulse skipped. I almost sobbed in victory, but as soon as my emotions began to slide toward the positive, control of the blood began to slip through my fingers again.

"No!" I snapped, pissed off once more, and sharpened my focus.

I cracked open the door, taking a few cautious sniffs. My nose wrinkled in disgust and I pulled my head back sharply - there was no one nearby, but that weird smell in the air was stronger and definitely unpleasant.

Keeping all my senses tuned up as much as I could, while still concentrating on cycling my blood through the hand, I held onto the kunai I'd used to slice into myself and with only a brief, regretful, glance toward the shut bathroom door through which I could hear pitiful sniffles, I took a deep breath and swiftly began to run.

My journey through the labyrinth of corridors passed in the most stressful haze of my entire life, every minute noise had my hackles bristling and I almost stabbed a wall at one point when I thought I saw something start to shift, only to realise it was just a light that had flickered.

I turned a corner and suddenly halted. The external blood that I had been more and more aware of as I ran had started to slide ever so slightly back.

[Nagao's office is the other way]

(Fuck Nagao, I'm not going anywhere near him)

I hesitated.

[Leaving such obvious biological matter behind is unadvised. High chance of having negative future consequences]

I didn't want to leave the hair or blood or spit behind, but there was no way I could take him on.

(He scares me)

[He underestimates you more than Kuchisake. Hide the hand and play the distressed child]

"Nagao-taichou, please, it's Kaa-chan, she's been hurt. There was a boy, and she told him to take his clothes off, but he had a knife and he stabbed her. Please help her, she's this way," I whispered, playing out the scene in my head.

It didn't need to hold up to scrutiny for more than a few seconds. Just long enough for me to taze him and then kill him.

I swallowed, looking back at the corner I'd just turned.

(Am I really going to do this?)

[Don't think. Just breathe and act]

I took a breath, and then turned around, my heart thumping painfully.

I followed the path to Nagao's office, my awareness of the blood in those vials getting stronger with every step until it almost rivalled the blood in the hand.

I slowed down once I saw his door, tilting my head this way and that as I listened, all while sniffing the increasingly foul smelling air.

"Please don't be in there," I whispered, lifting a shaking hand to the limb. It had become mottled with black bruises and I realised that my control wasn't fine enough to keep the blood within the veins, arteries and capillaries - they were damaging the circulatory system of the hand and spilling out under the skin. I probably only had a set amount of time before the thing was damaged enough not to work at all.

I slowly, quietly, pulled the handle down, opening the door by the tiniest amount that I could. Immediately my nose was met with a familiar and tantalising scent - there was blood in there, and a lot of it.

I detected no movement though - not even breathing - and carefully peeked my head around.

Nagao lay sprawled on the floor in front of his desk. The chairs were tipped aside and broken and there was a pool of blood underneath him that had soaked into the carpet.

Sticking out of his neck and deep in his eye socket were Shion's hairpins.

I swallowed, staring at the body of a man I felt nothing but contempt for, remembering the way Shion had twitched when she'd mentioned his name and her body had shown signs of combat. She'd killed him - but why? Shion was an emotionally driven creature, and I had seen with my own eyes the regard she'd had for Nagao... she valued him more than anyone else in the facility including herself.

Well - except for me. It felt as though electricity jolted through my system at that thought; had Kuchisake killed Nagao for me? To... protect me somehow? She'd promised me she would never let him hurt me, but I hadn't ever really believed her. My control over my blood in the hand slipped, and blood began to rapidly ooze out of it to stain my clothes even further.

I clutched at the hand hanging over my sternum, and something that felt disconcertingly like guilt begin to build a heavy ball in my stomach.

(Maybe she just wanted more time so she could make me fuck a kid)

[Breathe. Focus]

With a sneer I shook my head to clear my thoughts of useless theories, I didn't have the time and I now had the issue of trying to recreate the pulse in the severed hand when I reached the front door. I took a deep breath, my fingers spasming as my senses were suffused with blood, and then approached Nagao's body to see if there was anything of use on him.

It only took a brief pat down before I rocked back on the balls of my feet with a frustrated huff, annoyed that the man followed his own rules of no weapons in the facility. It didn't seem like him not to ensure he had power over everyone else in this way. Nevertheless, I moved on to finding the samples taken from me and figuring out how to destroy them.

It took me less than a minute to follow my connection to my blood and find the right drawer the case had been placed inside. When I opened the case up I saw that there were samples for many children, not just mine. My jaw clenched in anger at the sight, and I felt the strong urge to destroy every single sample. I just didn't have the time.

Taking the hair out, I used a tiny Katon jutsu - the only one that I knew, which barely produced a candle sized flame - generally designed for campfires to save on supplies that were required for areas when using chakra was too risky, and burn the hair until it had withered and crumbled. My nose wrinkled at the foul smell, but to be honest it wasn't all that much worse than the smell already in the air that was beginning to seep it's way into the blood suffused room.

The cheek swabs went the same way as the hair, and then I was staring at ten vials of blood. How did I get rid of it to ensure that not even a drop could be recovered?

(Bet it tastes delicious)

(I'm not drinking it. That's weird, and I know I'm only looking for a poor excuse to do so)

(Well I won't find a better excuse than this. It's not like it's someone else's. I've done it before)

(That wasn't straight out drinking it, that was licking. It's different)

[Drink it]

I hesitated for a moment, and then shrugged and opened the vial in my hand. With a small grimace I tipped my head my head back and quickly swallowed the cold liquid. The sensation of it transitioning from separate to one with the blood in my body was surprisingly pleasant, and the strong taste left on my tongue was better than chocolate.

(Sacrilege)

I had no difficulty swallowing the other nine vials of blood, little shivers running across my skin as I did so.

[Check the drawers and cupboards for anything useful]

Before I left the room, I did a quick scan of the contents of the cupboards - no weapons but I did find a small bag of supplies that would serve me well when I was out of this place and trying to get back home - and then rifled through he remaining drawers. I almost glanced over them as just another stack of paper, but then my brain registered what my eyes had seen and my gaze shot back to the explosive tags.

(Subaru wants Big Boom*)

I grinned savagely and grabbed them all to go in the weapons pouch, eyeing the ink and brush for moment before stuffing that in the bag. Checking that there was nothing else I could find a good use for, I quickly made my exit, kunai back in my grip. I was barely five steps out of Nagao's office when my brain annoyingly reminded me of my medical files still within the facility.

I stopped and grit my teeth, "Are you fucking kidding me."

(I just want to get out of here)

[Potential future fallout for leaving medical files behind could be disastrous. Treat this like a mission. Breathe]

I shakily inhaled, clenching harshly around the kunai until it hurt and then squared my shoulders.

"Fuck it," I sighed, fear and anger warring each other in my voice.

The familiar path to the room filled with files told me one thing - there was no shinobi walking around, only medical. Medical staff were easy enough to hear coming and avoid with plenty of time. I had a shorter time span to avoid a shinobi not intending to mask their footsteps - there were none of those walking around anywhere close to me. I wondered if there were any shinobi at the facility left at all; it was difficult to tell with the increasingly unpleasant smell in the air but I was fairly sure that the footfall in the corridors was significantly decreased in the last day.

It didn't take me long before I was in front of a familiar glitchy door, impatiently applying pressure and counting down. It was less than two minutes before the door unlocked by itself and I opened it.

I hadn't thought to check if there was someone inside before I did so. Five unwelcome presences met my sight - five incredibly familiar female faces, and Ike's dulcet bitch-tones.

Chou began to turn to see who had entered and I had less than a second to react.

[Shut the door to delay panicked escape. No witnesses]

I kicked the door shut behind me and launched forward, my kunai sinking up into Chou's neck and yanking messily out just as she made eye contact with me, I fell to the floor with the momentum of the gushing body and rolled forward to spring off again. Mari managed a flinch and a shocked inhale before I knocked her down, gripping her neck to maintain balance and my kunai slipping multiple times rapidly between her ribs.

Screams had begun by that point, and a flash of teal hair running past me had me lashing out with a chakra enhanced punch at her knee, making the joint collapse in sideways. She fell to the ground with an agonised wail that cut off with a crunch when her prominent nose met the floor.

I easily ducked the computer monitor Miyako threw at my head in a panic, pushing off Mari, sliding the blade into Miyako's abdomen and opening it up for her intestines to half slip out. I turned to Ike, who had taken advantage of my focus on Miyako to make for the door with a terrified noise, and just as she grabbed the handle I threw the kunai. It hit the back of her neck and sank in up to the hilt as she gurgled and choked, slumping against the door before sliding down it.

Yanking the kunai out of Ike, I went back to cradle the teal covered head and swiftly pierced her throat before she could wake up in pain and start making noises.

For long seconds I just stood there panting, fresh blood overlaid old blood. Sticking my clothes to my skin, staining my exposed limbs, painting my face and clumping my hair. It was on my tongue, in my nose, tacky between my toes and slick on my fingers.

It felt good.

(Six kills today. That's not good)

(I disagree. It was me or them. It was good for me)

(I'll become something I don't like if I'm not careful)

(I was always going to become a killer in this world. It was inevitable)

(I shouldn't revel in it)

(So I should feel bad? Don't be absurd. This is the new normal. It's okay to feel good doing this)

(Just don't get carried away)

[Balance is imperative but something that must be prioritised at a later date. Focus. Breathe]

I took a breath, shuddering in delight at the red taste in the air, and then focussed on finding my medical files.

It was clear with a brief sweep of my eyes that the women had been packing the files into boxes to be transported before I'd arrived. I scanned the half empty shelves hoping I wouldn't have to dig through the boxes to find what I was looking for. Thankfully I spotted my medical file fairly quickly, taking it down and flipping through it to ensure everything was inside.

It was only then that I realised my file wasn't going to fit in either of the bags. I'd have to destroy it, and that was going to take a while to ensure every bit of paper burned.

"For fucks sake," I hissed, anger building in my chest. Maybe there was a way I could stuff down my pants or something without hindering my movement. I couldn't think of one, though.

As I was thinking, my eyes landed on the scroll labelled Kuchisake. A scroll, unlike a file, could be tied to my back.

My gaze lingered, but I tugged it away to focus on the issue. Maybe I could just... blow up the file. How would I ensure every bit of it was destroyed, though? It'd have to be a damn powerful explosion, bigger than what the exploding tags could produce.

An explosion that large could also attract attention and, with Downsizing today being a thing I was supposed to be a part of, attention was the last thing I needed.

I spotted the last computer still plugged in and switched on, and the thought crept into my mind that I would probably be able to find something on Downsizing within the files on there.

It was pointless curiosity if I was going to be gone soon anyway. Whether I knew what it was or not wasn't really going to affect me.

Scarred'n'Scowly and Little Heart Wrencher flashed through my mind. It would certainly affect them, though. I remembered Hiroshi claiming that perhaps it was better Kenta was executed for falsifying documents than being around for Downsizing.

I kicked myself mentally, even as I felt myself drawn to the computer and sit down.

(What the fuck am I doing. Get out of here)

The computers were difficult to navigate compared to what I was used to, and that was almost enough to make me give up immediately, but apparently someone had been on the file regarding 'Operation Downsizing' recently which allowed me to find it eventually.

(Don't read it. Knowing won't make anything better. Just run)

My hands were clammy with nerves, making the blood on my palms tacky again and getting the mouse even more smudged with dark red.

I skim read the information, slowing down and going back over it again when I realised it wasn't written in laymen's terms.

The more I read, the more I could feel the blood drain from my face.

Intel received... Intel confirmed. Enemy shinobi scouted... Approaching facility location in sweeping pattern...Orders for facility evacuation... Military relocation... Data for medical research progress sent to base... Orders for evacuation of medical personnel... Orders for new medical subjects... Smaller sample size initiating next phase of research... Orders for current sample... Physical copies of promising biology to include blood, hair... Test subjects will have no further use... Ordered solution for test subjects is 4.b: Project Downsizing... Disposal of test subjects... Groups of five removed from dorms... severed tendons ensures cooperation... Euthanasia via poison dipped senbon... by blade for subjects with poison immunity... burn physical evidence... Doton jutsu for remnants left of remains...Timeline estimated at three weeks... Enemy contact with base estimated at four weeks.

They were going to kill all the kids... sever the tendons so they couldn't run and then poison them... before burning the bodies and burying the remains under the ground.

My capacity to plan and calculate and strategise failed me at that point. All I knew was that I had to get as many out as possible. If they were taking five at a time from their rooms, I had a chance of getting a fair number out of here. I wouldn't be able to save all of them, but I'd settle for even a single life.

I didn't think about how I was going to get their doors open, or how the hell I was going to get their cooperation, or how I would get a rabble of kids out of the facility without anyone noticing.

I just ran, barely remembering to tuck my medical file under my arm and, for reasons I didn't understand, grabbing the Kuchisake scroll and placing the strap over my chest so that it lay diagonally across my back.

I'd never been to the area of the facility that the children were kept in, but I knew where it was. I didn't bother with stealth, and my feet slapped wetly against the floor - undoubtedly leaving a trail of red streaks behind me. My wet feet had me slipping around the corners and shoulder checking the walls as I went, leaving more red streaks along the wall and hand prints where I'd hurriedly steadied myself.

I didn't think of how in my state I was leaving myself vulnerable to attack, I was a being of pure panic and horror. Pleasepleasepleaseplease chanted through my mind, though refused to clarify more than that.

The race to the children's dorms felt far too long, but by far not long enough. As long as I didn't reach the rooms, they were schrödinger's cats.

Eventually, I turned the corner to the first corridor of rooms, panting, and abruptly stopped. All of the doors were open, and there wasn't a sign of life. Anxious tears welled in my eyes and I gripped the kunai harshly as I forced my legs to move. Maybe this was a corridor that the military kids used before they were moved. Maybe everyone medical had been kept further along... maybe the ringing silence was just because their doors were still shut.

The smell in the air had become heavy, and as I turned corner after to corner to face corridors filled with abandoned rooms my brain kept insisting at me that I should be able to identify it. I'd never smelled it before but, as it came to lie as a thick film across my tongue and down my throat, my instincts were shrieking that I should know.

My denial died the moment I walked past a room and spotted an unmistakable mangy ribbon on the floor. Cold flushed through my veins at sight and my brain filled with static as I stared at Little Heart Wrencher's dirty ribbon.

Robotically, I entered the room, staring at the ribbon that the tiny, dimpled little girl never would have left behind.

One after the other I forced my knees to unlock to bend down, picking up the frayed material and twining it around my shaking fingers. I felt stuck in that moment, unwilling to move past my acknowledgment of the forgotten ribbon to reach the next conclusion.

The light in the room dimmed and my head snapped up, fearful that someone was standing in the doorway, only to belatedly realise that the room was mostly lit by natural means. There was a window, far too high up to see anything of consequence out of and not visible from outside the room.

Having been forcibly pulled out of my frozen state, I sniffed and wiped my face - unsure when I had started crying. My skin had become uncomfortably stiff with dried blood, but I ignored it as I walked up the wall toward the window to see if it would show me anything of use.

I carefully peered out and then immediately wished I hadn't.

I could see the courtyard that led to the front gates, with most of the medical personnel out there heading away from the building and I assumed toward the gates - though I couldn't see them - their arms filled with boxes of files and personal belongings. That wasn't what caught my eye, though. I was captivated with horror that rose in my throat by the large flaming pyramid of small, limp, fragile bodies, fed by the only two shinobi I could see still around - one aiming a katon jutsu at the sickening pyre and the other adding the children.

The shinobi bent down and a noise that could only be called a keen left my lips as he easily lifted a tiny form from a distressingly large pile, blood streaking the backs of the little legs -where a kunai had ensured there would be no running away- and the almost doll sized chest from the deep neck wound, and effortlessly hefted the lifeless child into the air, her gut wrenchingly familiar bald head stark as her rag doll body flailed, falling crumpled onto the burning nightmare.

My vision, my chest heaved and my chakra wobbled. I slipped, falling to the floor, barely having the mind to tuck and roll correctly so that I didn't break something or stab myself. I didn't stand back up, kneeling hunched over on the floor as the the foul smell of burning children and images I cursed my brain for never being able to forget tormented me.

Why? Just... why?! How could they all carry on unblinkingly as such an atrocity took place!?

This was wrong. This was so so fucking wrong. This place... these people - it was all so inhuman.

I rocked, nails digging into the floor below me, barely recognising my own voice as I groaned in pain and lament. My heart hurt.

All I'd wanted was to save one child.

"Just one," I sobbed to myself.

Grief, shame, disgust and loathing choked me, rising in my throat until I pitched forward and vomited. For long minutes I sobbed and dry heaved my heart ache onto the floor until my whole body trembled and ached.

(I need to get my shit together. I don't have time for an emotional breakdown)

(I can't just walk away like nothing happened)

(What choice is there?)

I sat back, futilely wiping my face of the mess, trying to get my breathing back under control so that I could hear past the staccato beat thundering in my ears.

My emotions attempted to wash over me overwhelmingly multiple times, but I managed to claw my control back bit by bit until my chest was merely hitching every few breaths.

I allowed myself a minute of calm, still feeling cold and sick. I stared down at my hand as I sniffed, absently, rubbing the ribbon clutched there between my thumb and finger and viciously holding back the tears that wanted to rise again. The images I had seen cut through my empty thoughts and squeezed my eyes shut, my fist clenching around the ragged material.

Warmth sparked in my stomach, combatting the helpless torment that stormed inside. It smouldered, and got warmer with each breath. Hot outrage flushed through my limbs and then only got hotter.

I opened my eyes again, my whole body beginning to shake as I stared at the ribbon and outrage blazed into rage.

How dare they.

They don't deserve to live.

I'm going to make them hurt.

(Just save one)

(Burn this place to the ground)

(It will make me feel better)

[You have the required knowledge of the building structure, traps and fuuinjutsu. Doing so could serve as a sufficient distraction in order to escape]

With an inferno of hatred racing through me, fresh blood leaking from my tear ducts as my Ketsuryūgan activated, I reached into the weapons pouch and pulled out the stack of exploding tags, followed by the inks and brush from the supplies bag. I was still a beginner when it came to fuuinjutsu, but exploding tags was something I knew intimately.

I tore through the corridors, mentally counting in my head and praying I'd left myself enough time for the detour. Using the rage that heated my veins, I took the kunai in my hand and slashed another line open on my forearm, bending the blood that escaped forcefully to my will and into the blackened, swollen hand in time to my heart beat then hurriedly pushed down on the door handle.

It slammed open and I raced into the room, heading straight to the bathroom when I saw the bedroom was empty. The bathroom door smacked open with a bang, making the scared, pale looking boy inside jump and shriek, his eyes widening in fear when he saw me.

"Come on, we have to go," I barked at him.

He stared unblinkingly, shaking, and took a step back away from me, almost whining, "Your eyes...they're red. What... that-that's Kaa-chan's hand isn't it. No, you're a monster leave me alone."

"If I leave you here, you're going to die," I snapped, holding my hand out demandingly, "If you come with me you have a chance."

A confused sobbing noise escaped him as he trembled in his underwear, "This is my home. I can't leave."

"It's going to be blown to bits in minutes. In a big fiery explosion. You have to be outside by then or you're going to be killed!"

Scarred'n'Scowly shook his head, "You're lying... I don't believe you... you..." I saw the moment he noticed what was in my left hand, his eyes widening, "Where did you get that?!"

I squeezed the ribbon and rasped, "Everyone is dying out there. Nagao is dead, Miyako's medical team is dead and all the other kids have died too. They're killing everyone and if we don't leave, we're next. They have a list... a list of names of all the kids they're going to kill. I saw it. Hiroshi told me there are one hundred thirteen kids in this facility left not including me. There are one hundred thirteen names on that list and mine isn't one of them. That means you're on it. You have to come with me."

He scowled wetly at me and argued shrilly, "You just want to get me in trouble! You're going to be punished for breaking the rules and killing Kaa-chan and you want to drag me into it so you can share the blame! I'm not falling for it!"

I snarled in frustration, we didn't have time for this and there was no fucking way I was leaving this kid behind after what I'd seen.

(Just one)

I darted forward and grabbed his wrist, dragging the boy behind me as he squawked and struggled, not expecting to find that I could physically overpower him without too much trouble.

Storming over to the blood soaked bed surrounded by little red puddles, I turned furiously to the scarred bald boy.

"Shut up and listen to me!" I shouted, silencing him in shock. I gestured angrily to the brutal scene, "Look! Look at this! Even if I was lying, do you think anyone is going to believe that I did this by myself? You were the only other person in the room. If I'm going to punished then you're also going to be punished just as harshly."

"B-but," his voice thickened with fear, "I'll tell them you did it-"

"And I'll tell them you made me. It's my word against yours and everyone knows how close Kaa-chan and I were so who are they going to believe? Me or you?"

His face managed to drain of what little colour it had, his mouth going open and close while terror filled his features.

I slapped my hand into one of the cold, congealing pools of blood, soaking the dirty ribbon, then snatched his hand back in my grip, lifting it between us. Blood drooled messily between our hands, down our wrists.

"You might not have killed her, but they'll believe your hands are just as responsible as mine. They won't keep us alive if they think we might kill other adults. It's too risky. I'm the only one left who can help you. We're tied together now, it's just you and me," I squeezed his hand tightly as he stared with conflicted uncertainty at our joined limbs, "Now keep your mouth shut and follow me, and we might get out of here with our hearts still beating."

Scarred'n'Scowly met my eyes unconfidently, but said nothing to contradict me. Good enough. I pulled him unresistingly out the room, wishing we had time to get changed or at least grab some clothes. As soon as we cleared the doorway I began to run - significantly slower than I was capable but I could tell I was pulling him as fast as he could go.

Twisting and turning through the labyrinth of corridors unhesitatingly, yanking the arm I was holding forward every time he slowed down to catch his breath.

No time, no time.

The approach to the front doors was marked by the stench in the air becoming almost overwhelming, and I wished I was wearing my face mask. Just as we reached the last door before the exit I swerved toward it, dropping Scarred'n'Scowly's hand to pick up the bloated hand hanging off my neck. Opening the door, I grabbed the young boy's wrist and dragged him inside behind me, closing the door almost all the way.

Turning to the door, I peeked through the sliver and carefully listened, counting in my head. The panting and wheezing behind me paused for a moment and I hushed him before Scarred'n'Scowly could say anything.

Seconds later there was a loud BOOM and the building shook.

I observed tensely as there were a few seconds of shocked silence, and then shouting started up outside. I heard the sound of stamping feet, one pair much quicker than the others, as those nearby ran toward the building.

Moments before the first pair of feet charged inside, I noticed with dismay that fractures in the skin of the hand hanging down my neck were rapidly appearing, blood beginning to ooze out. As though there was some sort of parasite living underneath in the flesh, the blackened bloated skin began to bulge and writhe grotesquely.

I took a step away from the door and turned my back to it, distracted from the thundering feet of medical running past in a panic to see what had exploded.

The fractures turned to splits and, almost reminiscent of the memorable chestburster aliens, the bulging writhing skin got more and more violent, Scarred'n'Scowly's terrified gaze as captivated as my own. Finally, with a noise that wasn't quite a pop and wasn't quite a squelch, the hand burst.

We both jumped as blood and little pieces of skin and flesh splattered both of us. After a moment of staring at where the hand had just been, I looked up at the wan, sickly looking child. I felt a brief surge of guilt over how traumatic this whole day was probably going to be to him, but I didn't have time to try to comfort him.

People were still running past, but not as many as before and I knew we had to be ready to move quickly. I wordlessly grabbed his hand again, and slowly inching toward the door to peek. I didn't have to wait for very long before the last set of footsteps was approaching the front doors, and time was up.

Darting out into the corridor, I saw the overweight man just entering the building and threw the kunai before he could do anything more than widen his eyes at the sight of me. The blade struck true, sinking into his left eye right up to the hilt and smacking his head back against the open doors, his body falling to the ground and preventing the door from closing.

I didn't allow myself a sigh of relief that it had worked, because I still had to get past the shinobi that had remained outside.

Tugging the boy behind me, I went to fetch the kunai with careful haste and then peered outside. The courtyard was empty beside the shinobi who had stayed to maintain the pyre, and thankfully he was mostly focussed on his job, but that wasn't going to continue once he sighted us. There was nowhere decent to hide between the doors and the gates at the far end, except for the large boxes that had been dropped in everyone's hurry to get inside.

Swallowing nervously, I waited until he was mid jutsu and then hissed, "Come on, duck low and move quietly."

I silently scampered down the steps, almost wincing at the comparatively noisy movements of the boy, and quickly hid behind the closest box - barely large enough to hide us both even making ourselves as small as possible.

When I glanced at the boy, he was facing the direction of the pyre, his breath shaky and his face creased with agony.

"Hey!" I quietly snapped, "Don't look at it." I gave his arm a short yank to grab his attention, his eyes sliding reluctantly toward me.

"Look," I pointed insistently, he slowly turned his head in the direction I pointed at, "See that big cluster of boxes over there? We have a minute and ten seconds to get there. That's the safe zone. Keep your eyes on it."

I checked the shinobi, who had stopped breathing fire to throw a body on the pile. My heart twisted with sick rage and I turned away, crouching low and running to the next box.

"He's going to see us," the scared whisper tickled my ear. I looked over my shoulder at the frightened child and nodded.

"I know, it'll be okay." Hopefully.

Tense seconds were spent timing our movements to duck behind boxes, and I felt like I was in some kind of horrific video game simulation. We passed the pyre and the lone shinobi and were about forty feet from the cluster of boxes when I breathed out shakily.

"Okay, time's up. When I say so, run straight for the safe zone, okay? Don't stop and don't slow down no matter what," I ordered.

"W-What?! But he'll see us!"

"I know. But we have to take the risk. We're still too close to the building."

"No, no! You're going to get us k-"

"Run!" I sharply interrupted, moving forward as fast as I could allow for the both of us, giving him no choice. Within moments a shout went up behind us, and intimidatingly fast steps pounded after us.

My heart thudded rabbit-fast in my ears and the back of my neck tingled with fear as the shinobi got closer.

We made it to the boxes and turned. The large man was seconds away. I shoved Scarred'n'Scowly forcefully down behind the box and met the man's eyes as he slowed, believing us to be as good as caught. He looked disbelieving at the sight of us, of me covered in wet and dried blood and dōjutsu active and still alive.

His face blanked into resolution, he opened his mouth, and the countdown in my head reached zero, I dropped and covered my head with my arms.

The building exploded in a beautiful display of destruction, at least thirty two people inside. The concussive force still sent both of us tumbling, and less than a second later every exploding tag I'd placed behind the boxes we'd hidden behind exploded too - including the one less than five metres from the shinobi.

I didn't wait to admire the devastation I'd caused, knowing there were people on the other side of the gates who could soon be arriving to check out what was going on. We needed to be gone before then. I coughed and once more reached out to hold Scarred'n'Scowly's hand.

"We need to go. Get up," I pulled demandingly until the boy staggered upright, a small cut on his temple from where he'd been knocked over. He stared in incredulous awe at the flaming, crumbled wreck that was his once home, before I made him turn away as we stumbled toward the gates post-haste.

The air was thick with smoke, ash and dust and I struggled not to splutter or cough as we moved.

"How are you going to open the gates?" Scarred'n'Scowly croaked at me, descending into coughing afterward. I grimaced and didn't reply.

I'd figure it out. Whether I had to walk up them carrying the kid with me, or failing that turn back and sever the limb of the shinobi we'd left behind us in hopes he had access, or wait until someone entered the gates next and kill them while the gates were open... I'd just have to go with whichever method most suited.

When we reached the final barrier between us and freedom, I stopped to allow the bald boy to catch his breath as I approached warily, looking for traps.

The sound of a door opening had me jolting, adrenaline bursting through me as I snapped round to the source of the noise. There was a disguised door in the wall by the gates, and I kicked myself for not thinking of some kind of guard posted near the entrance to the facility grounds.

I faltered when Hiroshi stepped forward, his puzzled features otherwise impassive as his eyes flicked between me, Scarred'n'Scowly and the destruction left in my wake.

Despite all the death I'd caused today, my chest tightened at the thought of killing this man, whom, regardless of my desires, I still felt an understanding and bond with. My hand gripped the kunai resolutely. I'd do it, though, if I had to.

Our gazes connected and held. Mine challenging, if uncertain, and his unreadable. It held for tense, stretched out seconds, before he broke it and turned his head toward the gates.

Without a word he approached the large barriers then, almost casually, lifted his hand to the left one. A short moment afterward, it swung open with a creaking groan. He stepped back, and then with one last lingering glance at me, that seemed a combination of wistfulness, fondness and regret, he left - treading the path away from the facility that clearly everyone else had used going by the worn tracks.

I watched after him, stunned frozen and entirely unsure of what to think.

"Is he going to get others?" The raspy voice shocked me back to my senses and turned to Scarred'n'Scowly, who was living up to his nickname as he also watched Hiroshi leave.

"I don't know," I replied, "It doesn't matter. We have to assume we'll be followed and cover as much ground as possible."

"Where are we going?" He asked, dubiously, though without any of his usual confidence and his face was still pale with the shock of today's events underneath the dirt, ash and blood.

I didn't tell him that I had no idea where we were, let alone where we were going. I didn't tell him that I had no clue how to navigate by whatever landmarks we might come across, or by the sun or stars. I didn't tell him that my survival skills for situations that required living off what the land could provide while on the run were severely undeveloped, even without being limited to a weeks worth of supplies at most, two senbon, two kunai, four exploding tags, under seven metres of ninja wire and a clan scroll. I certainly didn't tell him that without my crystal clear memory to rely on, I could go down a single street with a bend in the middle and get lost by the time I was at the other side.

"Home. We're going to my home," I responded.

"It's safe there?" he appeared sceptical, but took my hand when I held it out, the bloody ragged ribbon still wrapped around my fingers and clasped between us.

I smiled at him, weak but sure, "My home is the safest place I know."

Then we turned in the opposite direction to the path Hiroshi had taken, and we ran.

*Subaru wants big boom is a Myth Busters quote/meme

Not sure if I should apologise or not for this chapter. Especially when I don't know when the next one will be ready.

I wasn't actually going to have Sona blow up the building with people inside. Nor was she going to kill the medical team. She was just going to destroy the building to ensure her medical file was destroyed and any other file that might include her, to serve as a bit of catharsis, also as a diversion, and then leg it, but then I remembered her trap making conversation way back with Tenzō and realised she's been working on traps with a trap expert (perhaps not a trap master though) for months and in the rage she's in, she would therefore not miss the chance to take out as many as possible with a smaller initial explosion that made a lot of noise but less structural damage to pull people inside the building, and then a secondary explosion to kill everyone who'd approached to sort out and help the situation. The medical team because they were a liability with what they knew about Sonaru's biology.

How did you find it?

Which part of the chapter did you find most engaging? Any particular reason why?

What did you think Kuchisake's reasons for killing Nagao were? Was it her mad method of trying to prevent Sona from being killed alongside all the other kids? Was it just so she could have more time with Sona to fulfil her sick fantasies?

Were you surprised by Hiroshi's actions? What do you think about him as a character or as a creation?

What do you think Scarred'n'Scowly will feel about Sonaru now that he's seen what sort of brutality she is capable of and yet has also seen what she saved him from?

How easy/difficult do you think their escape will continue be?

Perhaps Kakashi is right around the corner, or perhaps they will have to fend for themselves a little more before the reunion.