Hi how's it going, I'm the President of Evil Incarnate Inc. and I'll be your author for the [insert time of day here]. Please keep your hands and feet next to the computer and all times. There are emergency exits by the doors and in the event of the an emergency...you're on your own suckers!
Thank you for choosing Evil Incarnate Fiction enjoy your stay.
Disclaimer: No I don't own Naruto, I only own the feelings that crawl up inside my chest when I read it. Oh and also my characters can't for get that!
It was a foggy morning. Though it would help conceal them it also hindered their progress; they needed to move quickly. Already the sun was filtering in from beyond the horizon; glinting off the mountains ahead of them. The caravan moved silently past the countryside; leaving behind them the scraggy brush that expanded into the desert. The caravan contained 3 covered wagons; horse-drawn. Besides the drivers of the wagons, there was a retinue of 10 Shinobi and Kunoichi positioned around them and seven more remained inside with their cargo. All the ninja bore the emblem of their village, Shokkigakure, a small ninja village located in the borderlands between the land of Fire and the Land of Wind. Known for their thread based ninjustu and skill for disguise. Their forehead protectors were inscribed with an image of the intersection of six threads. (A/N:Think kind of like a basketball but with three horizontal lines and a hexagon shape on the outside) The cargo contained in this particular caravan was getting restless.
Inside the second wagon in the chain, three girls sat in the middle of it, trying to get comfortable on some cushions. There were two other ninjas in the interior of the wagon, a Shinobi at the back while a Kunoichi sat in the front behind a section of wood that was partially dividing the driver at the front from the group inside. "How far is it now?" asked the eldest of the three girls. She brushed her cropped purple hair behind her ears. Her dark grey eyes looked at the woman at the front inquisitively. She looked to be about eight years old, a few years older than the other girls, and considerably paler. The Kunoichi looked back at her over her shoulder. "Not too far now Ryuka, another hour, maybe two, it's the final leg of our journey." She smiled at the girls. The woman's forehead protector was being used like a headband, holding back her short dark auburn hair. Her skin unlike the girl's was rather tanned. Another girl spoke up, "Another hour? My butt's gonna fall off in another hour!" Shoulder length black hair moved as she huffed. The third girl looked at the one who just spoke, "Kaoru, how can you think of your butt at a time like this." Kaoru looked at her indignantly, "excuse me for trying to lighten the mood Hikaru!" Both girls wore identical expressions of annoyance on their faces. This was not hard for them, seeing as they were twins. They would've looked identical if not for Hikaru's light brown hair to Kaoru's dark brown almost black hair, and her green eye to Kaoru's blue ones. Both girls were closer to the woman in skin tone than the third girl. "Calm down," The woman in front called back, "yeah Hikaru-" Kaoru said smirking at her sister, "Both of you," the auburn-haired woman said giving Kaoru a look. "I know you're tired; we've all been stuck in here for a few hours already, but I need you to be mature right now." She said gently. Both girls bowed their heads slightly, "Sorry Auntie Mio." They said in unison, shifting their butts on their cushions and settling down quietly. Ryuka looked at them and wrapped her arms around both girls' shoulders enveloping them in a hug, "Don't worry, we're together, we're fine." She whispered. She knew their outburst had more to do with their nerves than the state of Kaoru's butt. The younger girls closed their eyes and hugged their sister back.
A few minutes later…
"Uncle Taiko?" Hikaru said quietly looking at the Shinobi sitting at the back of the wagon. His curly hair was also brown but a few shades darker than Hikaru's. His brown eyes looked up from a kunai he'd been twirling around his finger. "You know the lady we're staying with… what's-her-name…" She paused trying to remember. "Hayame?" he answered. "Yeah her, what's she like, and how did she know our dad?" Kaoru finished before Hikaru could, the latter rolling her eyes at her sister. Taiko thought about it for a moment. "Well… I've only met her once before now, she seemed nice, and I think she had a ton of pets; Mio's spent more time with her though." He said looked to his sister. Mio glanced back to them before turning her gaze back to the road. "She's nice, kind, got a big heart, which can be dangerous for a ninja, but she is a medic. Anyway she's pretty easy going but has a protective streak and though we've only known each other a little over three years, I trust her. You'll be fine; so don't get your stomach in a knot." She finished smiling back to the girls. Kaoru, looking like she was deep in thought, looked up, "But what's her position on bedtimes?" Mio snorted, "You'll go to bed at a reasonable hour like you always do, she's not a pushover like someone," shooting a look at her brother. He sheepishly went back to playing with his kunai. "Darn" Kaoru said snapping her fingers, "I'd hoped for a pushover like Uncle." Mio rolled her eyes "No one's as big a pushover as Taiko." Taiko pouted at her "That was one time, and they were very convincing!" Mio chuckled, "Sure, sure, I believe you," and went back to staring at the road. The barely visible path stretched before them for a few miles then disappeared as the forests ahead grew thicker. The Sun was still perched on the edge of the horizon as Mio thought back to the village behind them.
Flashback: the Itokage's mansion
In the center of a village sits a large mansion. Surrounded by a gate with guards posted to ensure the Itokage's safety. Inside a man paces back and forth across the floor of a small windowless room as Mio enters. "Pacing's not making it go any faster cousin." He turns to her. "I know, but I'm too anxious to sit, if he's gone, what…what will happen to them?" He asks sinking into a chair by the wall. "Nothing Kyo, that's why we're here." Said Mio; her hand on his shoulder. Behind her the door opened again. This time an older woman in a light red kimono entered. The woman sighed, shaking her head, "He's going soon; he won't last much longer. You two better hurry." Mio and Kyo sighed and nodded. "Thank you Kaida, you've been a good friend up to now. We understand if you need to give us away, just please give us a head start." Kyo said grasping her hand. "What do you mean?" Kaida put on a confused face. "Give what away? I barely talked to you two tonight." Kyo and Mio smiled, "You are the best!" Mio added. The two left quickly after that and Kaida went back to her quarters in the servants' wing. Mio and Kyo made it back to their family's estate in less than five minutes.
The family's series of five large houses sat on the edge of the village, a large fence surrounded all of them with a gate at the front showing their clan's symbol: a red triangle facing up with two smaller white triangles in its lower corners and a smaller black triangle facing downwards connected to the bottom of the large one. The houses were arranged three houses in the front with two behind those. The largest house sat in the center of the three and the next largest houses were situated behind the first three. Kyo signaled to the guards at the gate. Taiko was waiting there with them. Kyo called to them, "The Itokage isn't going to make it! We need to move, Taiko make sure the wagons are ready!" They rushed inside the estate as Taiko began give orders and getting things ready. Mio turned to her cousin "Kyo, I'm going to go wake them, everything else is ready." He nodded at her and went to check on horses. Mio went into the house on the right of the center house. She went down halls, past the sitting rooms to the bedrooms in the back. In front of her was their room. As she reached to pull the screen door back a voice from behind stopped her. "Wait." She turned to look behind, "Grandfather?" "I wanted to say goodbye first, and I have something for them." Mio nodded and let him go into the room first. He paused before pulling the screen door, "Are you sure they'll be safe?" his face looked worried. "I've checked her out, and I trust that woman, she'll give them a good home." She assured him hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.
He pulled back the screen door to find the three girls already awake and waiting; dressed short pants and t-shirts; ninja sandals already on their feet. Mio raised an eyebrow, "And how long were you three awake? I distinctly remember telling Taiko to put you to bed." She looked at them sternly. "They slept, I waited. I heard you return and woke them." Ryuka's neutral expression didn't change under Mio's scrutiny. "You were supposed to rest for the journey." Ryuka just shrugged. Hikaru gave a yawn as she Kaoru stretched their arms over their heads. "Grandpa Kayane! Hi!" Kaoru exclaimed excitedly upon noticing the elder in the room. Kayane grinned, "Hello Kaoru," laughing at little at his grandchild's enthusiasm. He walked further into the room and stood in front of the girls. "I wanted a chance to speak with you all before you go." He said. The three girls stood at attention, bowed the heads in respect. Kayane bowed his head in response. Sighing, "You're so brave little ones, and I know this be hard for you, but have faith. You are members of the Chimame clan, no matter where you are in the world, always remember that." He paused trying to keep his voice in check. "I'm so proud of all of you." Then he reached into his robe and took out two scrolls with their family's seal on them. "I took some time to pick the right ones, here these are for you. So you can retain our clan's teachings." He handed the first one over to Ryuka. "And these are gifts for your next few birthdays." He handed the second to Ryuka as well. "I had hoped that you would be here to celebrate your birthdays but things don't always go the way you want." He smiled sadly. "Until we can meet again." He bowed to them and the girls all bowed again, "Thank you Grandfather!"
"I hate to interrupt but it's time to say goodbye, we need to go soon." Mio interjected apologetically. Kayane nodded and the girls went to say goodbye. Ryuka approached grandfather with a serious air. "Goodbye Grandfather." She hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek then stood next to Mio. Hikaru went next. "Bye Grandpa, I'll miss you." She hugged him tightly a joined Ryuka by Mio. Kaoru was last, "Don't forget me, OK Gramps!" she said launching herself up to hug him tightly. Kaoru joined her sisters next to Mio and their grandfather looked at them again. "Goodbye little ones, be good for your Aunt and stay safe." Then nodded and all of them exited the room. As the girls followed Mio down the halls and out of the house, various relatives were waiting outside their respective rooms and lining the halls; wishing them well and say their goodbyes as the girls passed. They made it to the front gates where their Uncle Taiko was waiting for them with the rest of their party. "Here put these on." He handed each girl a dark brown cloak with strange symbols on the backs. Mio went away from the girls to check the wagons; keeping the girls within earshot. As she put hers on Ryuka noticed there were 6 others in the group leaving who also wore similar cloaks. She also realized as her sisters put on their cloaks she couldn't sense their different chakras. Kaoru held up the ends of her cloak, "Why do we have to wear these and what are these symbols?" she whispered to her sisters while inspecting it further. "They block our original chakra signatures," Ryuka informed Kaoru quietly, "now our signatures are the same as those ones," she pointed to the other 6 people waiting by the wagons. Kaoru paused, "Oh, I get it; they won't know who to chase! That's cool!" Mio came closer to girls again, inspections were done. "Ok girls, time to go…"
End flashback
A half hour had passed and they had made good time. They were well into the forest; the sun, while still low, was climbing higher into the sky as time passed. It was time now to split up. Taiko would take the wagon and go around and make tracks for anyone that might have been following them, just as the other wagons were doing in different parts of the woods. Mio would take the girls the rest of the way on foot, being careful to leave no traces for anyone to follow. Just as the others in the cloaks would scatter from their wagons and hopefully draw attention from the girls. So the girls and their aunt left the wagon, shouldering their packs and moving silently through the trees. Kaoru shifted the pack around, "Man this is a bit heavy." Hikaru leaned over, "Well at least your butt won't fall off." Kaoru huffed pushed Hikaru's should away from her. Hikaru just smirked and moved a little faster; keeping up Mio. Kaoru pouted and sped up as well. The two of them were quieter than they'd usually be. Normally, they'd both be looking around everywhere, asking endless questions, and getting into trouble. However, this wasn't the time or place for that so they were silent as they followed their aunt. Ryuka kept an eye on her sisters from the rear position. She'd placed her younger sisters in between Mio and her as soon as they left the wagon, in case of an attack she was more capable than her sisters so made sure they were in the middle.
After another half hour passed they'd made it to the edge of the forest and the road leading to their destination was in sight. Slowing down they made their way past the bushes and trees of the forest on to the road. "Not long now." Mio said her eyes surveying their surroundings; senses alert for any trouble. Soon they made it to a huge gate guarded by a few Shinobi wearing the leaf village's symbol on their forehead protectors. Two of the Shinobi stepped forward, "Who are you and what's your business in Konohagakure?" Mio smiled brightly, "Well I'm Mio Tetsubara and these are my kids, Runo, Haruka, and Kori. We're here to visit my sister-in-law Hayame Tetusbara. Maybe you've heard of her? She's one of the senior doctors at the hospital." Mio said as she produced a picture of her and another woman with dark blond hair and dark blue eyes. They were both smiling in the picture, Mio's arm around the woman's shoulder. One of the shinobi looked at the picture, and back to Mio, "Yeah I know her, she fixed my arm a few weeks ago, and how did you say you were related to her?" Mio kept smiling, which was starting to creep out Kaoru and Hikaru but they kept quiet. "Well I didn't I married her brother, Kisho. He moved to my village a while ago. Didn't she mention her brother had gotten married? I remember sending letters and getting some back from her." Mio paused looking a little perplexed. The man's eyes widened "Oh wait she did say something about her brother," He looked over to the Shinobi next to him, "Didn't she?" the other one nodded in recollection, "Yeah, something about their parents being furious with him for some reason. I think it was something about the wedding, uh, no offense ma'am." Mio sighed "Yeah it was kind of hard on him for a while. Anyway, can we go now, she's expecting us soon." After that the guards let them pass into the village. Hikaru gaped at the tall buildings, especially the Hokage's building, "Wow, everything looks so cool! Look at all the trees!" Hikaru's eyes widened. In the Shokkigakure the terrain had been mostly desert there were a few trees around but none as big as the ones she saw now. Kaoru was also excited, "Cool! Mountain faces, is it alive, 'cause I'm not gonna lie, that would be Awesome!" she paused in thought, "Well maybe not if it tried to walk around and people got squished, but if it just hung out, and just, you know, being a mountain and giving advice on stuff and…" Kaoru babbled on to Hikaru as they followed Mio down the streets and alleyways. Mio smiled they should be happy here, she thought. As they turned another corner, finally their destination was in sight. A three story house stood in front of them across the street. Its outside was painted light blue. They crossed the street and went over to the door painted a bright green. Mio knocked on the door three times and waited.
Hikaru looked up at the house. It was about the size of a small building of apartments. There were no windows on the first floor but she could see two on the second floor, and two more on the third. The windows on the third floor were both dark but the light was on in the window on the left side of the second floor. The soft sound of footsteps grew louder as they got closer. With a click the door was unlocked. It was pulled inward reveal a woman in her late twenties or early thirties. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other. They both recognized her from the picture. The woman, Hayame, looked at Mio, "Did you bring the Onigiri?" she asked. "No but I brought soup instead." Mio replied as if they were having a completely normal conversation. Hayame nodded and let them into her house. There were a couple different pairs of shoes by the front door. Mio and the girls quickly took of their sandals and placed them alongside Hayame's shoes. They then sat their packs down on the floor of the sitting room, off to the left of the front door. As they did so, they saw three dogs sleeping on the couch in said room. Two of them were small dogs one a dark brown color with a white spot on its nose, the other was completely white and missing part of its right ear. The third dog was larger than the other two and was black with very curly fur. The black dog was on the end of the couch lying on its back; paws moving slightly as the dog dreamed. Beside it with its head on the black dog's stomach laid the brown one. The white one had curled up in the very middle of the couch and sunk a little ways in between the cushions. Hikaru and Kaoru wanted to go and pet them but Ryuka shook her head and pointed to their Aunts. The two women beckoned the girls to follow them past the dogs and into the hall. Soon my pretties, thought Kaoru; staring at the dogs. Following them, Kaoru snuck a peak at the kitchen as they passed by. On the floor next to the counter were a number of food and water bowls. Uncle Tai was right about all the pets! I can't wait to see them all! She thought excitedly.
They walked past the kitchen turned left at the stairs and went towards the back side of the house. Hayame released a genjutsu and a staircase appeared going down to a room below the first floor. They went down the stairs and into the small room. Upon entering Hayame made a few hand signs and used some kind of ninjustu or genjutsu the girls weren't sure yet. "Ah! Much better now we can finally talk!" Hayame exclaimed cheerfully. Ryuka looked around the room it was approximately 20 ft. by 16 ft. give or take a few inches. The walls were a dark brown and the floor was hardwood; what kind Ryuka couldn't tell. Towards the back wall was a square table with three packages on top of it. Around the table were situated six chairs. "Come, sit down you must be tired!" Hayame said ushering them to the table. Kaoru took a seat on the side of the table facing the door. Hikaru took a seat directly opposite of her. The two started making faces at each other to amuse themselves as Mio and Hayame chatted quietly by the door. Ryuka chose to sit on the left side of the table raising her eyebrow as her younger siblings began to make faces at her; trying to goad her into making one as well. Rolling her eyes she ignored them and waited for Mio and Hayame to address them. "Glad to see you're well, how's Kumo?" Hayame asked. Mio gave a half smile, "likewise and he's doing good," "you mean well," Hayame said teasing. "Whatever," Mio rolled her eyes, "He seems to have this crazy idea in his head that he wants to marry me. I'm not sure why." Hayame gasped, "That's wonderful and of course he'd want to marry you, you're amazing!" Mio shrugged, "That's enough prying into my social life for now; you should introduce yourself to the girls." Hayame chuckled as she went over to the table. "So, introductions!" She said planting her hands on her hips. "I, am Hayame Tetsubara, younger sister to one Kisho Tetsubara, head of surgery at Konohagakure General Hospital, at only 24, I'm rising star in the medical world!" Mio sniggered; Hayame glared at her until she stopped. "I humbly began as a Genin studying medical ninjustu, in between missions, at my family's medicine shop. A young prodigy I studied veterinary medicine and then moved on to human medicine; starting with diagnostic medicine then surgical. After my first year as a Genin, I also got a job working alongside a Veterinarian at a clinic in town and assisted surgeries and administrative duties as a nurse; an unpaid intern." Hayame shrugged at this point. "I became a Chunin at age 14 and left active service when I was offered a job at the hospital. I love animals. I own five dogs, two cats, a ferret, two hamsters, and a rabbit." Hayame's eyes seemed to glow with the mention of her beloved pets. "Most of them I found on the streets; though the ferret was a gift from my Sensei. I have basic house rules: keep your rooms clean, if you make a mess clean it up, be in bed by 8:30, but other than that you're free to spend your time how you wish. I know I can't replace your family but I'd like to at least be a part of it. And that's… that's pretty much it. Oh and my favorite color's orange" She finished looking at the girls.
They were silent for a moment and Hayame worried that she might've scared them. Then Kaoru jumped up enthusiastically; knocking over her chair in the process. "I'm Kaoru; I'm six and I too am a lover of all things fluffy and cute. My favorite color's blue, I like knives and food, and I'm going to be the strongest Kunoichi ever! I'm also much cooler than Hikaru and-", "Are not!" Hikaru shot up, "I'm Hikaru, my favorite color's green and I'm the older and cooler twin," "By two minutes," Kaoru fired back. Hikaru stuck out her tongue, "Still older, and I also like to read books." The two twins started to bicker and Ryuka calmly stood up. "My name is Ryuka, I like books, poetry, and music, as well and keeping younger sisters in line who are causing a commotion." She finished with a glare, Kaoru and Hikaru; who had still been fighting, pouted and sat down quietly. "I also like swords, pleased to meet you ma'am" Ryuka added before she sat down. Hayame laughed, "Oh you don't have to call me that, Auntie Hayame's fine." Ryuka nodded. "Now I bet you've been wondering what's in those packages right?" Hayame continued. "Yeah!" Kaoru said, "Are they puppies? Are they bombs? Are they puppy-bombs?" "Sorry no; that would be illegal and horrible. The bombs part not the puppies." Hayame said not missing a beat. "I picked up some clothes from around here; to help you blend in. Mio-chan gave your sizes before. Here." Hayame passed out the packages to the girls. "I hope you like them, Mio-chan told me a little about your tastes." Hayame said as she waited on the girls' verdict. Ryuka pulled out a dark grey jacket with purple strip down the left sleeve. "It's suitable." She said folding it up again and looked a pair of black pants. "That means she likes it a lot." Hikaru translated for Hayame. Hikaru picked up a sleeve-less green and white striped kimono top and a dark green sash that went with it. "I love it! So Auntie Mio told you our favorite colors already?" Hayame nodded, "I wanted to get you stuff that you would like. She said the colors would help." Kaoru picked up a light blue jacket with a black circle on the back. "Cool! I like it!" Kaoru quickly put on the jacket over her outfit. "What do you think?" She spun around. "You look like a Popsicle," Hikaru said. Hayame tousled Hikaru's hair, "No she doesn't," Hayame looked sternly at Hikaru and Kaoru raised her head haughtily, prepared to taunt Hikaru. "She looks like a really big Popsicle." Hayame's face became silly and Kaoru frowned and crossed her arms. They laughed and Kaoru huffed. "No seriously though, you look awesome," Hayame said, "Just teasing," and she tousled Kaoru's hair too.
All three of them were laughing now and Ryuka was even smiling a little. "I'm glad you're all getting along because there's the matter of papers." Mio said. She'd been silently watching the others interact glad to see the girls were already getting comfortable with Hayame. Hayame turned smiling. "I already took care of that! I forged some medical papers regarding their births." She took a few papers out of a pocket in her vest. "I also took care of adoption papers and talked to the owner of an orphanage in town. He thinks I found them outside of town and wanted to make the adoption process easier on them so he'll vouch for me. But what about the guards? They must've seen you enter with them." Mio gave a short laugh. "Yeah, they saw three girls enter, but not these three. Those cloaks you saw them take off, I used thread Ninjustu on them. Instant disguises, the guards didn't see what they actually looked like and won't notice when I walk out with three clones in those same cloaks." Mio finished looking smug. She took a seat by the table and put her feet up. "That's a relief," She sighed then looked up, "well you all must be tired from your journey. Why don't you get some rest upstairs?" The girls picked up their packages and followed Hayame to the door. "Oh, before I forget, outside this room I can't guarantee no one might be listening, so be careful what you saw. I'm working on putting seals on your rooms like this one, but it takes time and a lot of energy, so it may be a while." Hayame said smiling reassuringly at the girls and opened the door.
well with introductions out of the way and backgrounds are mostly revealed. Maybe I'll let you in on why they had to leave, though I'll probably dangle it around a bit ( a while actually well you might figure it out before hand it's not exactly original but I hope I can put my own spin on it)
Also to spare you pain I'm gonna tell you now it will probably take a a while for the next chapter: I've got homework and well... writing is hard! Anyway I'll do my best to get to it before next decade.
Your esteemed President is now leaving the building