'Again. It's the same.'

Once more, the windows opened and a lonesome figure stood outside, observing me with what I can only assume is a scrutinising glare.

Since I awoke in the "tank" I have slept and been roused awake too many times to count, each time I wake, the man observes me, and as he leaves, I'm put to sleep.

First it was scary, then it was worrying, and after that, it was rage-inducing.

Now it's just annoying.

'Keep looking at me why don't ya you old fuck.'

I was getting a little antsy from being cooped up here if you couldn't tell.

It was clearly the elderly voice from the first day that looked at me, the other creepy-voiced man never visited me again. I still couldn't move much other than the regular spasms; unfortunately, that meant I got to look at this man's ugly mug every day.

I used to try and thrash around more but my limbs felt constrained and shorter, overall it was such an uncomfortable experience that I just stopped doing much of it at all, my movements only really consisted of blinking and the occasional annoyed spasm.

"Vital signs responsive, cognitive function improving yet still below baseline."

'Fuck you, you geriatric asshole! I bet my brain works a thousand times better than yours!' I shouted in my mind, by now I had lost all my patience with the man. If I were to die then so be it, it's a better fate than being his little pet.

"Chakra stabilised after unforeseen growth, cell analysis due in one month"

'Chakra? Great, I've been kidnapped and kept as a pet by a yoga enthusiast, next he's gonna have me meditating…'

Sometimes the man said things that made no sense, this being among them. From my analysis he has to be a scientist of some sort, maybe one who dabbles in pseudoscience and kidnapped me to run some tests? I still didn't know much about my situation.

Still, the one month part he talked of gave me hope.

'Maybe then I'll be let out? Or is that hoping for too much?'

Either way, I had nothing to lose.

'Another month, can I hang on for that much longer? Not like I have a choice…'

The man observed me for some more time before going to close me away again, I could tell when they were done with me as they would tilt their body to the left and, from what I could tell, press a button which would shut me down.

*BANG BANG BANG!*

Before the man could press anything, a loud series of thumps echoed throughout the area!

'What?! Who the fuck-'

*BOOM!*

The man disappeared, he must've retreated or ran away from the sound. The tank I was in was shaking violently with the booms.

'Let me out of here you piece of shit! Fuck!' I wanted to scream yet the tube clamped to my face prevented any talking.

I was spasming once again this time wholly due to panic, I was trapped in this tank and had no means of escape, if there was some issue on the outside, I'd be nothing more than a sitting duck to whatever wanted to get to me!

Honestly, I had believed that I had given up on life but even in such a hopeless situation, I couldn't help but do all I could to survive, even if all it amounted to was a few extra bubbles in the tank.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

'No. Think man think… what can you do? It's not possible that this is a legit medical operation, the chances of the authorities finding me are also low considering how long I've been here and how technologically advanced everything seems to be, that suggests planning beyond what regular feds are capable of finding. Chances are this is some gang war type shit and I've been pulled into it.'

My mind had started working a lot better these days, I think it worked even better than when I was in the hospital honestly.

'So my best course of action is to pretend to go back to sleep, stop spasming and try to listen in to whatever made those sounds… I hope its the feds but even if it is them, could they get me out of here? Whatever. Leave the questions for later and focus on survival.'

Wasting no time, I stilled my movements and closed my eyes, for all intents and purposes, I was fast asleep in green goop.

My ears remained sharp nonetheless.

*BOOM!*

With one final blast, I felt tremors around me start to finally die down, although my eyes were closed I lightly opened them a bit just such that my eyelashes still gave the illusion that my eyes were closed. My vision was far from perfect like this but I could barely make out what was happening with the doors open.

What looked like tens of people, all dressed in black dashed from one side of my vision to the other, I could hardly see or hear them as they were deadly silent but their figures eased my worries a little, from my count there were 10 or so outside right now.

'Those are either some monochromatic gang members or men in uniform! Guess I was wrong after all, I'm getting out soon haha! Let's hope I'm right and the gang didn't decide to all match today for some reason instead…'

A couple more booms sounded out, and a scream or two as well, I did nothing but wait.

After an agonising hour or so, a figure which must've blended in with the first batch of people doubled back and walked past my tank, this man was distinguishable by the strange-shaped helmet he was wearing and by the fact that he was slightly short.

"My own weakness." an elderly voice croaked out.

'This dude sounds even older than the scientist! Didn't know cops of his age were still out on the field' I thought, surprised at this revelation.

"How low have you fallen, to experiment on mere children" lamented the old man, his 'helmet' shaking as he did so.

'Experimenting? I see. I was most likely abducted…' I started putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

The man looked at my tank, through my fuzzy vision I could tell he was staring at me, "abducting and harming children, who look to be no older than 5…"

The puzzle pieces fell apart.

'What's this dude on? I guess the tank somehow warps the light to make me look smaller? Ah but what about my stubble?'

I started questioning the sanity of the cop looking at me.

"Orochimaru…" the old voice said, looking at where he had just walked back from with a sorrowful tone.

Huh.

What did he just say?

Before I could question the sanity of the old man any more, he was joined by another figure clad in black, his face was a mess of colours that I couldn't make out through the murky green.

"Canvassing is still underway, what are your orders concerning the information leakage? All civilian eyewitnesses are already in custody but it is highly unlikely that those are the only ones aware of the situation." a younger female voice sounded out.

"Hm. Keep them for questioning, as of now don't let my student's betrayal leak; I will do it myself in a public announcement. Send messages to both Jiraya and Tsunade to return to the village ASAP." the older voice commanded.

*Shoom*

'WHAT THE F-'

Did she just teleport? Not to mention, who did the old man want to send messages to?

Although my vision was lacking as of now, the cloaked figure talking to the helmet man must've dashed out of my vision with incredible speed, one moment she was there and the next, nothing.

'Maybe she fell? No, I didn't hear anything…' I felt an uncomfortable sensation in my stomach as the situation grew stranger and stranger. It was hard to reason and come to a conclusion when ridiculous things happened one after the other, and this was coming from a man who had grown accustomed to living in a damn tank.

"Fox." called the old man, immediately afterwards, another figure burst into the scene with similar speed to the lady that just left.

I stopped trying to understand what was happening and just focused on grasping as much information as possible.

"Remove the child from the tank, inform me of his condition later." said the old man in a commanding tone, it was obvious from the way he spoke that he was the head honcho in this operation. Once he had said his peace, he too vanished into thin air.

The other man, presumably named Fox, looked at me for a second before turning to the left and jamming a button.

'Ah fuck.'

Knowing I was mere seconds from being knocked out, I used the time I had to open my eyes and survey my surroundings with no impediments to my vision. Through the green I could see a visage of a man, he was clothed in all black with a splash of colours on his face, I knew it was a mask similar to the previous "police officer" I saw but this one was distinct with different colours.

I had a strange feeling that the man was looking into my eyes as I did him.

'Weirdo.'

My last thought as once again, I was lulled into a forced sleep.