Bag of Depravity
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Missing-nin Chapter 13
🕑 Added 2025-08-15 06:59:50 +0000 UTCA/N: Next chapter will finish up our time spent in the past, then jump back to the future and have our first Naruto/Kyu scene.
Now that I've gotten these two written and edited, I'll be jumping back to my other works. Professor Potter and Dark Days are the next on the menu.
Chapter 13
How to Die
Naruto leaned back just enough to make a bone blade miss. He threw a punch, but Kimimaro’s shoulder grew a layer of bone armor. Naruto’s fist flared with pain for his trouble. Kimimaro's bone sword came after him again. Naruto dropped his shoulder and rammed it into Kimimaro’s wrist, disrupting the swing.
The two were fighting again but there was no killing intent in their attacks. Instead of trying to end each other, they were enjoying a good match.
Naruto’s cheeks puffed out. He breathed fire, tracking the direction that Kimimaro dodged. A bone projectile made him end his technique. Naruto tilted his head back, summoning wind to throw the other nine projectiles off-course. Kimimaro had shot his fingers at him.
When the Kaguya tried to close the distance, Naruto stomped hard enough to fracture the ground. He was confident in his strength. Even without firm footing, Kimimaro reached him without trouble. His bone sword touched Naruto’s neck, the sharp edge pressing into the missing-nin’s throat.
Slowly, Kimimaro lowered his eyes to his own neck. Naruto’s extended fingers were hovering in front of it. If they’d been coated in red chakra, Kimimaro would no longer be breathing.
He smiled and retracted his sword, prompting Naruto to drop his hand.
“A draw,” Kimimaro said.
“Seems like it,” Naruto groaned.
They both had more cards to play, but there was a reason they were sticking to these methods. Anything else would’ve risked not just their opponent’s life, but their own health.
Naruto plopped onto his butt. Kimimaro sat down with more grace. Naruto started to laugh, and Kimimaro smiled.
“You’re pretty good!” Naruto said. “I mean, I’m awesome, and you can actually keep up!”
“My talents were decided the moment I was born with this body,” Kimimaro said.
Naruto grimaced. “C’mon, don’t tell me you’re one of those guys that believes in fate.”
“I don’t see how I couldn’t be. I was born into Mizu no Kuni’s most bloodthirsty clan with the ultimate ability of war. From the beginning, I was destined to live a bloody life. I would have preferred to be a florist.”
“Like, someone who picks flowers?”
“Doesn’t that sound better than shedding blood?”
“I don’t know,” Naruto said. “I don’t like killing, but I don’t really like flowers either. They’re so boring. And girly.”
Kimimaro laughed. “Sometimes I forget how young you are, Naruto.”
“You’re a year older than me!”
“Two years. We shouldn’t undersell it.”
At first, Kimimaro had resolved to ignore the strange Jinchuriki that became his temporary neighbor. After two days of dealing with sadistic flunkies and screaming test subjects, he found himself back in Naruto’s clearing requesting a spar. It had become a routine since then. Kimimaro visited more days than he stayed away.
Kimimaro was gripped by a coughing fit. He weathered it, smiling when he caught Naruto looking at him.
“Excuse me,” he said.
“You don’t have to apologize for coughing. Are you sick or something? You keep doing that.”
“Yes, I’m sick,” Kimimaro said. “It’s unfortunate, but not something that will go away just by speaking about it. I’ve come to terms with it as another part of my fate.”
“You’re talking like you won’t get better.”
“What do you have against flowers, Naruto?”
The topic change didn’t go unnoticed, but Kimimaro succeeded in ending that line of questioning.
“It’s not like I hate them or anything,” Naruto said. “I just don’t see what’s so great about them. They’re just plants, right?”
“They’re beautiful— in both sight and smell. They’re so fragile, yet they persist. That’s what I see in them.” Kimimaro smiled. “You should try to appreciate them more. Small things improve the world in big ways.”
Naruto was giving him a funny look. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“When you’re talking like this you feel like a normal guy. Maybe a little girly, but still pretty cool. Then when you’re working, it’s like you’re a killing machine. Which one is the real you?”
“Can’t it be both?”
“I always thought it couldn’t be,” Naruto said. “Somehow it feels like you make it work, though. I don’t get how you do it.”
Kimimaro thought deeply. He could tell that Naruto cared about the answer, so he did his best to muster a satisfactory one.
“It’s as I said— this is who I am. I enjoy peace, and I fight for the one I’ve sworn myself to. If it’s contradictory, that’s simply the way it is. It’s human to be more than one way. I believe that living is about understanding that, rather than trying to force yourself to make sense.”
“Embrace the differences…” Naruto muttered.
He was staring straight ahead as if spaced out. Kimimaro had been forgotten. Either Naruto was speaking with the beast inside of him or he'd experienced some kind of epiphany.
Kimimaro excused himself for the day. “Good luck, Naruto, with whatever it is you’re thinking about.”
Naruto acknowledged him with an absent nod, deep in thought.
O-O-O
The moment Kimimaro re-entered the base he froze. Someone was sitting on his throne.
He sped across the room, ejecting a bone to act as his sword. The tip pinged off the back of the metal seat. His target had dodged.
“Touchy are we?”
None of Kimimaro’s underlings were bold enough for a stunt like this. It was an outsider— one that dulled the good mood he’d been in.
“Kabuto,” Kimimaro said. He took back his bone sword, resting it at his waist. “Why have you come?”
The other boy was older than him. He had silver hair and thick glasses. His smile was innocent. Everything about him screamed ‘non-threatening’ but Kimimaro knew that was by design. It was a ruse, created to let Kabuto get within striking distance. Once there, he’d sink his fangs into you. Just being in his presence made Kimimaro want to summon a protective bone layer.
“So curious,” Kabuto said. “Were you hoping my tests turned up a treatment for you?”
“Whether you were successful or not, I will serve Orochimaru to the best of my abilities.”
Kabuto sighed. “What a boring answer. Do you ever get sick of it?”
“Sick of what?”
Kabuto airily waved his hand. He smiled at Kimimaro like an old friend. “Never mind. You’re so suited to this life, I feel like I should be jealous. I suppose that’s why Orochimaru trusts you so much… It’s time to move.”
“Orochimaru has started?”
“The Kazekage agreed to the alliance,” Kabuto said. “They’re meeting one last time to finalize the attack. Rasa will not make it back to his village.”
Kimimaro didn’t hesitate at the thought of assassinating a kage. “Shall I summon the Sound Four?”
“The two of us are enough. That’s Orochimaru’s will,” Kabuto said. “This base is no longer necessary. Put affairs in order for an evacuation. The shinobi will be joining with our main forces and preparing for the attack.”
“Easily done,” Kimimaro said.
Still smiling, Kabuto stood up. He put his hand on Kimimaro’s shoulder.
“It would be wise to tie up any loose ends,” Kabuto said. “If word of what we’re doing were to escape, that would be a disaster. I’m sure you know that as well as I do.”
“Have you ever known me to hesitate in my duties?”
“Never! Not in the past, at least… but there’s always the future. It doesn’t hurt to have a reminder from time to time.”
Kimimaro grabbed Kabuto’s wrist, removing his hand.
“Orochimaru is my present. My past no longer matters, and my future is nonexistent. I will never fail him.”
Kabuto shut his eyes, smiling. “I’m glad to hear it!”
Kimimaro watched Kabuto’s back as he walked away. As ever, how much Kabuto knew and how he knew it was a mystery.
Kimimaro looked away. He had lots to do, if he wanted to be ready to leave.
Not least of which was saying goodbye.
O-O-O
When Naruto saw Kimimaro coming two days after their last meeting, he dropped into a taijutsu stance. Kimimaro didn’t take a stance, so Naruto slowly relaxed.
“No fighting today?”
“I thought we could just talk.” Kimimaro lifted a cloth in his left hand. A basket of dumplings was wrapped inside, still steaming.
Naruto’s stomach grumbled.
Soon the shinobi were sitting on the branch of a tree, their legs dangling off. The dumplings sat between them, each of them eating at their own pace.
“I thought I’d be the one to leave first,” Naruto said. “That’s how it usually goes.”
“You knew that I was leaving?”
Naruto looked through the branches of the forest. “Ninja have been running around since yesterday. They keep taking off and not coming back. I figured you were abandoning that base of yours.”
“My master’s plans move ever onward. It was no longer necessary.”
“You talk so much about your master,” Naruto said. “Master this, master that. Don’t you ever get sick of him?”
Kimimaro ejected the bone in his index and middle fingers. He used them as chopsticks, picking a dumpling out of the box. “It is not my place to entertain such thoughts.”
“Then pretend he did something really nasty. Let’s say he’s running around lighting flower fields on fire. Wouldn’t you tell him off?”
“If Orochimaru ordered it,” Kimimaro said, “I would tear out every flower in this world. He is my purpose. I have no regrets.”
Naruto glowered in silence. He grabbed three dumplings in one fist, throwing them in his mouth. Possibly to stop himself from saying something that would start a fight.
“I’ve never mentioned my master by name before, but you don’t seem surprised.”
Naruto chewed before he answered.
“I mostly knew. My friend said that you smelled like him.”
“Like Orochimaru-sama? I’m honored.”
“Technically, she called him a perverted snake freak.”
Shink!
Kimimaro held a rib bone against Naruto’s neck. “Don’t speak of him that way. Even if it’s you.”
Naruto rolled his eyes. “Put that thing down. I’m not even the one who said it.”
Kimimaro tossed his rib away, down to the forest floor beneath them.
“He’s a missing-nin like you,” Kimimaro said. “Almost a kindred spirit. With your gifts and talent, he would welcome you with open arms.”
“We’re not the same,” Naruto said. “I left Konoha because I couldn’t stand them. He got chased out because he was mutating people in dungeons.”
“Every single action he takes carries a purpose, Naruto. No goal is achieved without sacrifices.”
“Even when it’s your turn to be on the lab table?”
“I’ve already been experimented on,” Kimimaro said. “It’s through those that I’ve gained the power I have. I can only wield my Shikotsumyaku as I do because of his guidance. With his help, you could become—”
“No thanks,” Naruto said. “I’ve already got a teacher, and I trust her way more than some famous missing-nin. Maybe you did a few experiments for him, but you have no idea what he’s planning tomorrow.”
“Actually, I do,” Kimimaro said. “He’s never kept it a secret. I was to be his next body.”
Naruto recoiled. “You mean he… with your backside…”
“No!” For once, Kimimaro blushed. “Don’t make his vision seem like perversion, it’s an advanced technique that’s been perfected through extensive effort!”
“Yeah? How does it work?”
“Well, first Orochimaru inserts himself into the vessel— Don’t make that face!”
“Fine,” Naruto said. “We’ll say it’s not some super-pervert technique. If I get this right, he’s still taking your body? As in, you die. You’re saying you know he’s going to do this… and you’re still going along with it?”
“That plan has been terminated,” Kimimaro said. “Don’t misunderstand. It’s not because I objected to it. If it’s my fate to act as fuel to my master’s life, that was always something I’d accept. Ultimately, I was just unfit to be his vessel. It’s undecided who his next body will be.”
Naruto was quiet. The silence dragged.
“...In other words, he’s looking for a body, and you’re asking me to come with you.”
“No!” Kimimaro seemed surprised by how loudly he’d objected. “That’s not— I’m sure he wouldn’t want your body.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, I didn’t want to bring it up, but you don’t smell the best…”
“Hey!”
Naruto shoved Kimimaro to knock him off the branch, but Kimimaro’s legs ejected spikes to keep him in place.
“Are you sure you won’t come with me?” Kimimaro asked.
“I’m not joining Orochimaru. I promised myself I wouldn’t work for anyone. Especially someone like him.”
It was clear Kimimaro wanted to argue, but he knew Naruto’s mind wouldn’t change.
“Then this is goodbye,” he said.
Not see you later. Not travel safe. Goodbye.
“You’re dying.”
“There’s still time,” Kimimaro said, instead of denying it. “I could be cured.”
“You cough up a lung every fifteen minutes.”
“But I’m not dead yet. Therefore, there’s time.”
Naruto exhaled through his nose. He’d stopped eating, staring through the trees.
“Isn’t Orochimaru some genius after all his experiments? You mean he can’t fix one measly sickness?”
Kimimaro lifted his hand. The bones shifted underneath his skin, looking like bugs crawling through his sinew. “It’s about this body of mine. From the moment I was born, I wasn’t normal. I lacked the bloodthirst of my family, but possessed the talent that they lacked. I’m even different on the biological level. My nervous system, circulatory system, muscular system… all of it is irregular. Orochimaru’s right hand man is helpless in the face of it. I need entirely undeveloped treatments, and there’s simply no precedent to create them.” He closed his fingers into a fist. “Just as I was fated to violence, an early grave has always been my only destination.”
Naruto grabbed his wrist.
“Come with me then!” Naruto said. “I finished what I came here for the other day. If you’re going to die anyway, do it outside under the sun, not in a lab! Live as Kimimaro Kaguya for once, not Orochimaru’s puppet!”
Kimimaro smiled. He gently touched Naruto’s hand— and pried it off.
“Kimimaro Kaguya is Orochimaru’s puppet. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The statement was followed by a coughing fit. It was particularly bad. Kimimaro put his palm to his mouth. By the time the fit ended it was coated in dark blood.
“Come on. At least wait until we’re done eating.” Naruto’s voice didn’t reach its usual levity, but tried. “Here, dummy.”
He ripped off part of the fabric that Kimimaro wrapped the dumpling basket in, using it to wipe away the blood that had collected. Kimimaro let him.
“I have another friend,” Kimimaro said suddenly. “Only one, to be honest, but he’s a good man. His name is Jūgo. If you ever happen to meet him, please do well by him. It would make me feel a bit better.”
Naruto groaned. “I don’t like the way you’re talking. Now it actually feels like a goodbye.”
“I don’t intend to see you again,” Kimimaro reminded him. “I’m going to be very busy and I have very little time left.”
“...If you eventually see the light, just take a run for it. Even if you’re not traveling with me, I promise it’s better to die on the move.”
“That won’t be happening,” Kimimaro said. “So long, Naruto.”
He disappeared with the use of a shunshin. It was a unique one that left the sound of rattling bones in its wake. Naruto was alone on the tree branch.
“Motherfucker,” Naruto cursed when he looked to the side. “He took the last dumpling with him!”
“I don’t understand why you’re so sentimental about that brat. You’ve only known him for a week.”
“He reminds me of myself, Kyu,” Naruto said. “I know what it’s like to grow up being treated like a monster. He found his answer to the loneliness, and I found mine.”
“His being Orochimaru.”
“And mine being you, the biggest and bestest tailed beast that ever walked the lands!”
“...You’re buttering me up because you know I don’t agree with what you’re about to do.”
“Oops. You got me,” Naruto said. “I can’t let this go that easily. Kimimaro might be a brat sometimes, but no one deserves to die as a slave. Even if they’re trying to.”
Naruto picked up the bloody piece of cloth that he used to clean Kimimaro’s hand. Fox-like features formed on his face— his pupils becoming slits, his whiskers deepening, and his canines getting sharper. It was a partial transformation, made possible by the close bond between Bijuu and Jinchuriki.
Naruto inhaled, sucking up the scent of Kimimaro’s blood. He was immediately able to tell the direction Kimimaro went and the rough distance he’d traveled. Naruto leaped off the tree branch, landing in a crouch.
“So what will this plan of yours be, to free him as you say?”
“It’s simple, isn’t it?” Naruto said. “We just have to get rid of Orochimaru.”
“Brat. By human standards, that’s a formidable opponent.”
“And by Bijuu standards?”
“Of course he’s nothing but an ant compared to me.”
“There you have it! We’ll pick the right time,” Naruto promised. “I won’t just rush in without a plan.”
“And if Orochimaru is too much for you? Will you die for this friend of yours?”
“Aw, don’t phrase it like that. It’ll just be dying doing something I want to do. That’s always been how I’m gonna go out,” Naruto said. “But I don’t have any intention of dying, and I know you don’t plan on going down either.”
“The thought of cowering from a mere snake does make my fur stand on end.”
“Great! Then let’s kick his ass!”
Naruto’s legs tensed. He took off running— and where his feet hit the ground it cratered, leaving divots in his sprinting wake.
The hunt was on.
