"Beautiful," he whispered, staring at the blood red moon over head. His arms rested behind his head with his legs propped up in front and his legs opened slightly, giving him the moon's full face. The village below was silent and unmoving, not even a stray dared to trod on the sandy streets of the common. It was near midnight and not a light was on casting the village into darkness, save for the light of the blood moon washing buildings and streets in a bath of crimson light.
A gentle, tired sigh passed his lips and was carried away by the winds. It was too quiet. Even for his liking.
A tiny yip surfaced, and immediately he was on his feet leaning slightly over the edge of the roof. Footsteps, he was certain, coming from the front gate and passing through the streets in a slow, leisurely pace. A low melodic tune of a woman's hum reached his ears. The small barks subsided. He saw a figure cloak in black walking in the shadows cast by the buildings, periodically raising its head to gaze at the moon. At times it would stop and slowly rock its arms back and forth as a mother might do to calm her child, and she sang to it, low but soft in key. He narrowed his eyes.
'Are you watching me?'
He could barely make out the silent message of her lips, being as they were shadowed by her hood. It was as though the wind had carried her voice to caress his ears with its gentle tone, but it held and mischievous hint within. He blinked and she was no longer on the ground.
A pressure was applied to his back, light at the touch but still enough to feel. He felt the warmth of her breath on his ear as she spoke. "Are you watching me kouken-kun?" her voice was playful for a woman's but soft. "Is that not the task of the moon? To watch over those lost and guild them back home?"
He closed his eyes. "What foolishness do you speak of?"
Something flicked against his back and the pressure was gone. His head turned a little at the sound of a pup's whine, followed by another. In the corner of his eye he could see the woman coddling something a black cloak in her arms. He never noticed she discarded it but he was given the pleasure of seeing what desired to be covered. A short but elaborately designed kimono wrapped around her body ending just at her thigh, trimmed in red. The kimono itself was black printed with sakura leaves of red flowing down the garment to collect at the end and fray the trim. The sleeves flowed over her hands and were also trimmed in red and torn with wear and age, but they fell heavier then needed giving the idea that something was hiding within them. The collar was high, covering to her nose, but left here eyes exposed. He stared at them the longest. They reminded him of blood oozing from a wound, rich, lively, a shimmering red that held so much life within it, so much pain, anguish and sorrow. They hid everything, those eyes.
He frowned.
She hides.
"Are you going to continue to watch me kouken?" she said, gently stroking the entities in the cloak.
"I am not your guardian."
"Of course not," she answered softly, a smile shown through her voice. "But you will give me a place to stay."
"There is an inn."
"And I have no money. It's late…and my children are tired. Give us a place to stay." It wasn't a question or suggestion. It was a demand, hard and firm, and covered in the sweet voice of a woman in need.
His mind screamed 'no' and instructed him to leave the girl alone, to jump of the roof and return to the sanctity of the tower, to indulge in paperwork through the night until the sun rose again or his assistant barged into the room demanding that they assigning missions once again. He could feel the muscles in his neck moving but the answer didn't register to his mind just yet. Eventually the words left his mouth before he thought them.
"Hai. You will stay with me."
She smiled at him and inclined her head in a little bow. "Your name?"
"Kado Kuro."
"Ah…it's a pleasure to meet you Kazekage. But do you know my name?"
He nodded yes. "You are known as the Kiba no Katon. The assassin that has never failed to kill a target and makes a living from leaving villages in ruin with the death of their leaders. You are the most wanted nin in the nation and is held in high regard in the eyes of the Akatsuki." His eyes turned cold. "You are 'the demon of hell'."
The demon inclined her head once again, the smile never fading as though nothing he said bothered her. Yet her eyes held a different feeling, for they did lie when seen by another. "Hai. That is me, but in time you will learn my real name and will call me as such, but for now, I wish to sleep and so do my pups. I have no desire to kill you now."
"You couldn't."
The woman tilted her head and her body relaxed. "No…I don't think I could, Kado Kuro, the unmatched Kazekage….and killer of Gaara of the Sand."
--------------------
The house was small, there was no getting around that. It was a two story home decorated in the traditional desert fashion, burned yellows, dirtied reds and pale white covered three of the four walls of the 'living' room. The fourth wall was covered from top to bottom in a single sheet of metal scratched and rusted with time, but what looked like rust could not have been. It was known that rust never touched black steel…
The guest was seated on the couch facing the sheet of metal and was left alone as the host entered the adjoining kitchen. She could hear him rummaging around in the refrigerator clanking bottles and moving aside plastic and take-out boxes. He gave a short sniff when finding what he was looking for and kicked the door closed with his foot, turning as he did.
"Here," he handed her a half emptied bottle of cold sake, the rim of the bottle was chipped.
She pretended not to notice and focused her attention on the squirming bundle. Kuro frowned and set the bottle on the arm o the couch. "What is it?" he asked, glancing from the black bundle to the woman. It wiggled around once more before settling down with a low growl from the woman. Kuro raised an eyebrow.
"Niiro…Hinote."
The cloak began to move again, this time almost hesitantly as two black noses peeked out from under the garment. The mouths connected to them gave a small bark of acknowledgement. An ear poked its way out from under the heavy cloak and twitch and swiveled in the direction of a manly short.
They were literally pups, he saw. No more than a month old. Their eyes were a startling red, same as the woman's but held a deep black ring around the iris. Their faces were hardly seen, but those eyes followed his movements wherever he went. He smirked.
"If we may," she broke him from his thoughts. His reply was a low grunt for her to continue. "I have to put them to bed…if there is a place I ca-"
"There is only one bed."
"Oh…well, they can have the couch and you and I can have the bed, ne? I hope you don't snore."
He looked at her as though her mind was lost and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. His head was hurting and there was only so much he could stand of this woman.
"Fine."
"Oh good!" He opened his eyes and found her already halfway ascending the stairs. The black cloak lay on the couch with the two pups still sleeping inside. One less thing to worry about. He followed the woman up the stairs, passing her as she waited for him to take the lead. The room was one the corner at the top of the stairs and it, much like the house was small. The bed was centered in the middle of the room on top of a sheet of black steel with columns of the same metal surrounding it. The same metal was used to cover a dim light in the corner of the room given the room a dungeonous vibe.
'But I guess this is fitting,' she thought to herself, taking in the size of the room and noticing its lack of exit routes. Perhaps she could have taking the couch with the pups. Ah well. Too late now. With heavy sigh she walked over and sat on the corner of the surprisingly soft bed, she leaned back with her hands resting behind her. Her breathing became deep, almost trance-like and her head fell back with another sigh, lolling to the side just a bit. He watched as her body grew tense and acted as though it didn't happen, but he could not deny the sudden tug at his senses.
Everything, his hearing, his sight, all feelings were directed and opened toward her. All those years of practice to control his senses felt meaningless at that moment. He was vulnerable under her sensual gaze, but how this happened he couldn't explain. What was it that caused his interior to crumble? What made his expressionless mask feel ineffective against her? Why did he feel so….vulnerable?
And then she opened her eyes, and everything made sense.
"Uchiha," he stated before his mind processed the words. Said woman looked at him with burning crimson eyes. Three tomoe rotated slowly within the sea of blood leaving a small wake of black within. With each careful rotation, he could feel more of himself, his energy, being pulled into them. His resolve unraveled before her, exposing him as a vulnerable, naked creature. That was why everything felt off. It was because of those eyes.
"I hope you don't do that in your sleep," came the childish remark, snapping Kuro from his thoughts. He looked over and found the Kiba no Katon smiling at him with her head tilted to the side.
"What?"
She pointed to the steel column at his right and found that it was collapsed in the middle and crushed as though an invisible hand released its fury on the middle crushing it like a tin can. The woman couldn't help but laugh at his shocked expression. She never would have pegged him as the type to show emotion. But then, it wasn't really an emotion, it was more a flick of the eyes. Yes…that was it. Surely someone of his status wouldn't allow himself to show emotion to a complete stranger, or his killer for that matter. But now wasn't the time to think about that.
"What are you doing?"
The woman stopped in the middle of untying her sash and looked at him. "Eh?"
"What. Are. You. Doing?" he repeated low and sharp causing even the assassin to flinch.
She stared at him blankly as though the obvious was right there in front of him. …which it was. Right there. In front of him. "You must be joking…" she said deadpanned. "It's called undressing…disrobing…taking off clothes. Say it how you want, it means removing your outer garment." She clicked her tongue in disappointment. "And here I thought you were smart." The Kiba no Katon freed the knot in her sash and let the silk piece fall on the bed followed by her robe. She pulled herself up, cross-legged on the bed taking the robe and sash in her hands and folded them then set them off to the side on the metal sheet. There was nothing wrong with being a little neat, she reasoned to herself. She seemed ignorant of the fact that she was scantly clad in only two thin black straps of cloth, one covering the lower half of her body and was tied on her hip and another covered her chest, binding the lusciously plump curves a little too tightly for her comfort. But that could be fixed. Her arms came around to her back to loosen the tie a little and allow herself to breathe freely again. She gave a relieved sigh and pulled up the cover of the blanket and slipped underneath, her back still facing the gaping nin.
It was times like this Kuro was glad he made the 'right' decision. It had been years sense he had a woman in his bed and there was nothing wrong refreshing his memory. He stared at her for the longest time taking in her pale, alabaster skin and the soft curvature of her body as it was unveiled before him….for his eyes to see. He received a clear view of her back noticing it was only marred by several fading scars, no doubt attained from years of evading attacks and close calls. Several of the cuts were either close or along her spinal cord. It was a wonder none of the attacks were fatal.
But…how she survived these close calls were not important. What was important was…
"Are you coming to bed, dear?" The woman asked as a tease, her voice mocking that of a traditional housewife.
Kuro shed his clothes in record time not needing to be told twice, but didn't know what else to do after that. He remained staring at the woman's scarred back for quite sometime. Was it fear that kept him rooted? Dignity? No….it was something more than that. He was still being pulled by the force that unnerved him.
"Katon-san," he called her attention. "Your….eyes or…your technique.."
"Aa…" she said lazily. "You want me to turn it off." It wasn't a question, but a statement. And just like that he was released from the force and found it easier to breathe once again. This time without being hindered, he strode over to the bed and slipped under the covers next to his guest. He closed his hand into a fist, plunging the room into darkness.
"Uchiha-san?"
"Figured it out did you? Nani Kado-san?" she shifted around to face him and in return he moved a little closer to her.
"Why did you feel the need to use your Sharingan? Is it not supposed to be used for a threat?"
"Well…I do use it for a threat…but I had to know what you looked like."
"You couldn't see me?"
A soft sigh. "Iie."
"Are you blind, Uchiha-san?"
A pregnant pause was given as an answer, though he didn't feel her move. Several minutes passed and finally she spoke.
"Good-night Kado-san."
"Good-night Uchi-"
"Minoru."
Another pause.
"Good-night Minoru-san."
Then the encroaching darkness took them both and they fell into a deep dream. One dreamt of a village covered in sand, and the other a nightmare of the past.
---------------------
'Well well…what have we here? Did Konoha send us a spy?'
NO NO!! I'M NOT A SPY!
'Nah…she's too young…' came another voice, this time from behind. She could feel his hit breath on her neck as he wrenched her head back by her hair. She whimpered and curled tighter into herself, much to their amusement.
'Aw…the poor thing…' it was a mocking laugh in the darkness. The little girl shivered.
'You cant be too careful with these things….perhaps we should inspect her…thoroughly, ne?'
A chorus of "hai's" rang out making the girl cower further against the back of the unseen man.
Okaa-san…why did you leave me? What did I do…?
Eventually her body stopped shaking seeing that there was nothing she could do to stop it. She was simply too weak. What could a child do against a gang of rogue ninja? To fight meant suicide…but as she was pushed back against the rotting wood floor and her body was exposed to the cold, suicide didn't seem like a bad idea…
--------------------
Kuro was awakened (if you could call it that) by a rough kick in the chest, so hard it sent him rolling out of bed onto the black metal sheet below, but being the graceful being he was, he landed on all fours crouched low to the ground.
""…iie…" he looked up toward the bed and watched the sheets thrash in a wave of panic. Wave after wave of frightening energies pulsated from the struggling body on his bed, charring the sheets and melting the black rods of the bed as if an unseen flame was held against its steely flesh.
He heard her scream. Such a chilling sound that could wake even the dead, sent his heart racing and his breath became short and labored, trying to keep up with its hasty gallop. His body was frozen on the floor and dared not to move. No…he wasn't scared. The Kazekage, Kado Kuro feared nothing. It was the sheer power that held him still and made him second guess whether helping the woman was a good idea. Or perhaps he could kill her?
Yes.
That would be better. He stared at her trembling from once her thrashing had subsided and thought. She was in the village to kill him, but here she was…so vulnerable, so weak, just right for the killing. He would be world renowned. The only man to kill the Kiba no Katon…Uchiha Minoru.
His eyes widened.
He knew that name.
Minoru…
Kuro looked to the door as two unknown signatures approached at startling speed and burst through the wooden frame. The blurs of black and red leapt past him before he could blink and hopped onto the bed to console the shivering Uchiha.
"Okaa…'s ok…okaa.."
He heard one of the shadows speak. A pained whine followed after and he watched the black shape lower its head….and licked the sweat from her face. They were pups. They were her pups, he concluded, the ones that were supposed to be asleep. Both huddled closer to the woman who began to noticeably relax under their soft, wet pink tongues. They continued to relax her as one scooted under her arm which lay across her belly and rested his head upon her chest, burying his nose between the busty mounds. The second lay next to her head and continued to lick her face. Both ignored the nin who stared at them expressionless and fell asleep with their mistress.
Kuro remained on the floor watching the three of them sleep and couldn't help but feel the homely aura emitting from the small family. His body was released from the uncomfortable aura and was able to rise to his feet. He crept over to them, slowly and quietly making a ghost sound noisy, and leaned over he woman.
Just a little closer…
A little more…he froze when the pup's ear twitched, but continued.
Almost there…
He grasped the pillow, unoccupied by the woman's head and heaved it off the bed while turning swiftly and making a bee-line for the living room.
He would sleep on the couch tonight.
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Kuro woke to the sounds of silence.
Immediately, he felt something was off.
He strained his senses to pick up on the abnormality in his home, but found nothing out of the ordinary. The home was left untouched, safe and well protected. No one would dare to enter without his consent so there was no worry…but he couldn't place what was wrong. Hadn't there been a guest last night? A woman and her pups? Yes…that was it. There were no soft sighs of the sleeping woman in his bed, nor the occasional chime of the chain around the pup's neck. In fact…he could hear everything…save for them. He sat upright in his bed and routinely pulled his arms over his head and stretched them ba-
Wait.
He froze. Why was he in bed?
Had he not given his bed to the assassin, the Kiba no Katon, last night?
He unceremoniously jumped from his bed and ran to the living room seeking the woman from last night. It was empty. He checked the connecting kitchen…nothing. The backyard. Yes, perhaps she wanted air…she wasn't there. His workroom….again, nothing was found. He searched the house four times over and still found nothing, not a trace of the woman or her pups.
Defeated, he crawled back into bed only to freeze in an awkward position with his eyes glued to the side table. A scroll stood upright on the black metal top tied with the same scarlet sash she used to hold her robe together. It was torn away in an instant and the scroll was unfurled.
Nothing was written.
It was blank.
"Well…if it isn't the last female Uchiha…" a tall blonde woman chuckled in front of her.
Said Uchiha had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. For some reason everyone was making a big deal about her being female, but why was that? Oh yes…she was the last, living female Uchiha of the once renowned Uchiha clan.
Boy was she lucky.
If one were to ask how the dreaded Kiba no Katon came to kneel in front of Konoha's fifth Hokage while being strapped from her hands down to her feet…the answer would be this:
None of your fucking business. (But that would be from the Uchiha's mouth.)
If one were to ask any of the hospitalized ANBU that brought her to the Hokage Tower, the answer would sound a little more like this:
It was sheer luck that they found her resting in the tops of the forest trees. If it hadn't been for her pup's whining, they would have slipped right past her.
It was a simple mission given to the ANBU to search out a lost child who as held captive by a gang of rogue nin and return at least one of the members alive to explain their intents and reasons for stealing the child.
They had succeeded, of course, but the battle had taken a little out of them, and being the lazy bums they were, they took a rest by the river's edge which lie barely two miles from their home village. It was then that they heard the whines coming from above. All eyes immediately looked upward and spotted a blotch of red amongst the green.
Then all hell broke loose.
The Uchiha glared at the busty woman who was slightly bigger than her, but only in bust where as the Uchiha had her beaten in height…not that it mattered anyway. The Godaime merely chuckled with a smile that spoke as though she won the lottery. "You saved us the trouble of finding you Kiba no Katon…or should I say, Uchiha Minoru."
The glare only deepened, then went ignored.
"I bet you're wondering why you aren't dead."
No really…"Hn."
"….so much like Sasuke."
Who the hell is that?
"But luckily I mastered the "Uchiha Stubborn Language.' "
Good for frickin you…
"Thank you."
WHAT THE HELL?
"Now… as I was saying. You are alive because you are the last remaining female Uchiha, and whether you know it or now…there are only three of you left. Unfortunately we are unable to locate the other two brothers, but you….just happened to fall into our hands at the right time." The busty woman strode over and took a seat at her desk, pulling open a drawer and setting on top of the desk a bottle of sake. She popped the top and refreshed herself with a swig of the rice wine then licked her lips, savoring the taste.
She set the bottle down and leaned forward over the desk, resting her heavy elbows on top and folding her hands under her chin. Her brown eyes stared impassively into the vacant black orbs of the Uchiha's. "You, Uchiha Minoru, Kiba no Katon known to all the nations, and the assassin that has no equal, are to be married and bare a child."
And she was done. Just like that.
They both sat in silence. The Godaime sat at her desk lazily sipping her sake while Minoru was trying her hardest to juggle pulling her eyes back in to their sockets, not screaming, not going into a rampage, and last, NOT losing her sanity.
There was only so much that could be taken.
Thank Kami for sake to numb the pain and soundproof walls the cancel out the noise.
"ARE YOU FUCKING SICK!!!?"
But then again…no one could make decent walls anymore.
The blonde smiled slyly. "No need to act that way….we have a few willing men that would be dying t-"
"I DON'T CARE!! LET ME GO YOU PSYCHOTIC BITCH!!! LET ME GO!! I'LL KI-"
Her thrashing came to a sudden end when she found herself with a face full of sharp, pointy objects and several senbon poised at her neck. She settled for glaring instead, seeing as that was the safer thing to do. It appeared that the entire Jounin, Chuunin, and ANBU divisions were pointing their kunai, swords, aimed shuriken, and other deadly objects in her direction, just waiting to be given the order to kill the Uchiha. Minoru could feel all their chakra signatures and waves of killing intent that washed over her in a warm bath. The corners of her lips raised slightly.
"That is where you are wrong, Uchiha." Several nin looked directly at the woman, their eyes wide with shock and curiosity. They all had the same thought.
This is the Uchiha?
The Godaime continued while stealthily slipping her sake under the desk and back into the drawer trying to avoid the death glare from one female nin holding a fat pig. "There is no way you could get to me. As you live in the village, you will be escorted to wherever you choose to go and constantly monitored. The amount of security I assign will be dependant on your behavior in the village. Try not to get…too reckless, or I'll have you imprisoned until you come to your senses or lose your mind. If you do go insane, I'll have you restrained, call some poor, desperate ninja to find and ravage your body until he impregnates you with his seed."
All heads whipped around to the Hokage with eyes stretched impossibly wider.
The smirk from the Uchiha's face was wiped away in an instance. Her body became rigid and her eyes narrowed, trying to mask her emotion.
The blonde continued. "I know what happened to you Uchiha Minoru….and don't think for a second I wont let you relive that event everyday for the rest of your life. I'll have you bound and helpless so fast you wouldn't even know it was in you until your body convulses and gives way."
The group shared the same shiver of discomfort.
"I'm doing you a favor by admitting you back into your home village. You should be grateful and accept it, or face the alternative."
Silence took over once again. All eyes were on the Uchiha.
It was several minutes before anyone said anything, or dared to breathe. The first was the Hokage. "Dismissed," she said in a short, clipped tone and instantly the nin vanished in a collective plume of smoke leaving the Kiba no Katon and the Godaime alone once again.
"Hatake."
There was another puff of chakra and smoke.
Given the circumstances, Minoru chose not to acknowledge the Elite Jounin and pushed his existence out of her mind, but she didn't' ignore his person. His tall frame was slouched slightly giving the impression of a bored man reluctant to take his job seriously. His fingers were holding firmly to a bright orange book with the image of a chibi man and woman in a chase scene on top of hard black words. His hair stuck at an angle defying the laws of gravity and the tips looked sharp enough to poke someone's eye out if they came too close. His hitai-ate was askewer over his right eye keeping it hidden like a makeshift patch , and his build was hard to tell, being covered by the traditional baggy Jounin garb and that discomforting slouch that made Minoru and the Godaime hurt just by "looking" at him.
His voice was deep, but smooth when he spoke in a bored tone.
"Hai, Tsunade-sama?"
The blonde flicked her wrist at the bound Uchiha then directed her eyes toward his single visible blue one. His eyebrow raised in interest.
"She is under your supervision until further notice. Dismissed."
And before a protest was voiced, the scarecrow fled with the fang of fire tightly in his grasp.
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