Houou-Pheonix

The water around the swamp rose and swelled with the wind blowing around Houou's legs. They dangled over the cresting edge of the lake as she watched the birds overhead circle the trees. Her eyes were falling shut, but from where Shikamaru was hidden, he could still see the evanescent turquoise glow radiating in the reflection of the sunlight filtering over her. Her golden hair was streaked with one vibrant flamed strip of red which she had wound back on the top of her head in a bun. She had tried to keep it tied tightly back but he could see tiny spiked patches catching loose. Sasuke shifted beside him where they were crouched low in the marshy bog watching her. He felt uncomfortable; mostly because it was very clear that this female was everything they had feared. There was no mistaking the shared eye and hair color as the rumors had said. Sasuke had no doubt that this was in fact Naruto's sibling. The story had started shortly after the fourth war had ended and they'd returned to rebuild the village. It had been said that in the rampage and devastation of the villages across the ninja country that some prisoners from the Mist had escaped their cells. This woman…this girl who looked so much like Naruto…had escaped from a highly contained cell underground beneath the village. It had been theorized that upon seeing her by accident, Yamato had happened a glance at her on an offshore peace treaty assignment, that they had to investigate. Shikamaru and Sasuke had been sent in as recon. Sasuke shifted again impatiently and sighed earning a glare from Shikmaru. He made a gesture at the Uchiha to be silent as another person approached the girl where she sat.

"Houou." The man put his hands in his pockets standing behind her. He took in a long breath with a cigarette hanging from his teeth as he watched her stare over the water.

"What do you want?" she asked her voice devoid of much emotion other than annoyance.

"The Mizukage would like to discuss your alliance with the village." That comment earned a snorting sound to which the girl rolled her eyes before shutting them.

"She makes it sound like I have a choice." She laughed again leaning herself back on her elbows. Sasuke watched as the evergreen tank top she wore stretched as she lay.

"You do have a choice. You always have a choice." He kneeled down putting a finger on her forehead. "You can go home now. She can't keep you here. Not now. If she did it could start another war." Houou opened her bright incandescent eyes to look up at the man.

"Where would be my home?" she smirked lopsided. "The village that I was taken from, the place where I was raised, or the prison I was caged in?" he frowned hearing the darkness inside her words.

"The Hokage would welcome you there…your brother would welcome you there." She flinched jerking upright and refused to look at the man. She kept her eyes on the lake now sternly and angrily trying to burn her emotions there.

"I don't know that I can be anywhere near him." She stated flatly. "As far as I know, if I go near him, he will die."

"We don't know that. We don't know that what you learned through the Akatsuki was true." Her hands balled into fists at her sides.

"I won't risk that. I will not go to Konoha where he is finally safe for him to die because I was too weak to stay away." Tears filmed at the edges of her eyes.

"You spent entirely too much time around that boy." Sasuke raised an eyebrow frowning. He noticed the glint of a silver chain with three small circles wrapped around her wrist.

"You don't have the right to speak about him. So I suggest you shut your mouth."

Once the words had come from her lips Shikamaru had not been able to turn the Uchiha back from the mission. They had only been there to collect information and head back. The problem was that Sasuke was extremely hard headed and now that they'd both taken notice of Itachi's necklace wound over the girl's wrist there was no turning back. He sighed watching the Uchiha silently slide the window open to Houou's apartment which they'd followed her to after her training session. He maneuvered himself inside and the boy genius followed after. It was hard to deny Sasuke this one small thing after everything they now knew he'd been through. It was hard to tell him no when that girl wore his brother's necklace. It was a small piece of reality that Shikamaru knew if it were him he'd want answers. He followed the boy further inside the dark apartment where the moon shone through a slanted blind over a hallway window.

The bedroom door was cracked open lightly. Sasuke hardly moved the hinges as he opened it a fraction wider to go inside. Shikamaru looked over his shoulder to see a small room with one window hanging over the bed. There were no blinds on this window and the full moon crossed over her body fully illuminating her for them. She'd kicked the sheets off her body and they were tangled around her thin ankles. Sasuke saw that she slept only in short sleeved shirt that rested just above her navel with a bikini shaped undergarment not unlike the bathing suits he'd seen Sakura wear in the summer. One leg was gently bent over the other as she laid on her side hugging her pillow. He saw that her golden hair had come loose from its bun and was littered around her head like a molten mess. It covered her face in strings but he could still see her face gently resting as she slept. It was too bad that he had an undying need to understand why she wore his brother's necklace that he'd have to use his Sharingan to filter through her memories. He neared the bed and hovered over her. She was clutching the pillow tightly her hand holding the necklace in a balled up wad rather than having it wrapped around her wrist as before. Why did she have it?

"If we're going to do this…we need to do it now." Shikamaru whispered. Sasuke nodded.

"Hold her still, I'll lock her into it." The shadow master nodded and made the hand signs to catch the girl as she laid on the bed. Instantly her eyes snapped open and a breath escaped her parted lips. Sasuke grabbed her chin, trying to force himself to be gentle, and caught her inside his genjutsu.

(inside the jutsu)

Houou stiffened being sucked into the genjutsu and held her breath. It had been such a long time since she'd been under the effects of the Sharingan that she was in shock. She took a step back narrowing her eyes and grabbed at her hip for her kunai pack which ended up not being there. She inwardly cussed scrunching up her nose and looked around the dark world. Two bright gleaming eyes caught her attention staring at her suddenly about a foot away. She tried to step back again and she couldn't. Houou felt a shiver run down her spine. It wasn't that Sasuke was scarier than Itachi by any means but she knew that if he filtered through the memories inside her head he would unleash a holy fury on her like no other enemy she'd come into contact with. Her hand subconsciously brushed over her stomach as he stared her down.

"Who are you?" he asked in a cold hard voice.

"Houou." She answered in a gentle tone.

"Houou what?" he snapped impatiently.

"Uzumaki."