Kunoichi

Abduction

It was just another normal evening for Kikyo and Hotaru. Sasuke went on a hunting trip with his brother and Naruto was grounded for playing a prank on the Third Hokage so it was just the two Tadashi girls that day.

At first they decided to train… but Izumi-oba got mad because they broke about five bokken and then they tracked dirt into the house… which was always a bad idea.

So, instead of risking their lives by staying at Kikyo's, they decided to, as Kikyo put it, "test their agility and evasion tactics against one another." In normal-person terms, they were playing tag.

"You're it! Ha!" Kikyo exclaimed out of nowhere before taking off.

"Kikyo! Hey! That wasn't fair!" Hotaru shouted after her, chasing. After a little while of this, the green haired girl slowed down. "Hey Kikyo, where are we?"

"That trick doesn't work on me, Hotaru!"

"No, I'm serious! Where are we?" She stopped running altogether and looked around, perplexed.

Kikyo stopped too, but kept her distance. She looked around before frowning herself. "I don't know. I guess we wandered a little too far."

"We should head back," Hotaru told her, feeling anxious.

"Aw, don't be such a crybaby," the brunette scoffed. "Let's explore!" The mischievous one grinned a bit and started off into the trees with a new purpose.

"Kikyo! I really think we should head back!"

"Oh don't be such a worry-wart!"

"You always say that!"

"But you're still always a kill-joy."

"Kikyo~!"

"Hotaru~!" she mocked.

The Senju knew her eyes were better than most because of her father so she knew that Kikyo probably couldn't see the pair of men moving around on the ground a ways ahead of them. They seemed to be looking for something and moving cautiously so they wouldn't be seen. It made Hotaru uneasy. "Kikyo. I think we should go now."

"You can if you want to, but I'm not."

"Kikyo, seriously," Hotaru hissed, grabbing her arm. "There are people here. People I don't recognize."

"There are probably a bunch of people you don't recognize in the village, Hotaru. Stopping freaking over nothing."

"Kikyo, I have a bad feeling."

"You always have a bad feeling. If you really don't want to run into them, we can just go another way."

Hotaru nodded, that sounded okay. She directed them around the duo, but Kikyo just couldn't help her curiosity. The green haired girl wanted to slam her head into a tree. Why did she have to be so stubborn?! But as they skirted a little close, Hotaru noticed something she hadn't before: the symbol on their headbands was different. Instead of the normal swirly, leaf-like symbol that represented Konoha, they had four squiggly lines.

Which village was that? Come on, she knew this…

Before she could place the symbol, Kikyo was marching over to them. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Ninja from other villages aren't supposed to be here," the brunette announced. "I'm gonna ask why they are."

"Kikyo, I don't think that's a good idea. We should go back and get Daddy or Ryu-oji or—"

"Hey you!"

"Or not," Hotaru muttered.

Both of the ninja turned to them at Kikyo shout. They looked at the brunette for a moment before their eyes zeroed in on Hotaru. Their eyes moved from her to something in their hands – a picture maybe – and back to Hotaru. This wasn't good. Not good at all. "What do you think you're doing here?" Kikyo demanded, hands on her hips. "You're in Konoha territory, foreign ninja aren't supposed to be here."

One of the men smirked. "I'll tell you what we're doing here. Or better yet, show you."

Hotaru saw it coming. She tried to flee, but, while Hotaru was quick, the foreign ninja was quicker. He scooped her up like some kind of ball and held her under his arm while the other kicked Kikyo into a tree hard enough that the Jinchuriki had to wince.

Now, normally Hotaru was a very sweet and nice child. She wasn't like Kikyo, she didn't aim for mean spots when sparring or really even try to hurt anyone. But this time was different. First off, they'd attacked Kikyo and people just didn't do that. And second, they were clearly mean people that were trying to take her away. So she decided to take a page out of her cousin's book and grabbed hold of the bokken Daddy insisted she carry around with her then slammed it between her captor's legs.

He let out a howl of pain and dropped her, falling to the ground and holding his new injury. "Shit!" the other guy exclaimed, lunging at her. Hotaru swung her bokken and hit him in the head.

Except she broke it.

"Ow! Damn it!"

Great! Now she didn't have anything to defend herself with! Why'd she have to go and break it?!

Then she realized that the men were somewhat disabled for the moment, so she rushed over to Kikyo. Or tried to. The second man recovered and grabbed hold of Hotaru's ponytail before giving it a sharp jerk. The little girl let out a shout of pain. Kikyo had gotten up though and rushed to the rescue, hitting the jerk in the eye.

He let Hotaru go but they didn't get far because the other guy recovered and man was he pissed. Apparently Kikyo was really lucky that Daddy was nice. "You damned little brats!" he snarled. Kikyo took a swing at him, but he caught her bokken and jerked it away before breaking it over his leg.

"Not so fast." The angry guy Hotaru had hit in the crotch grabbed Kikyo by the neck. She scratched at the hand, but it was too much for her.

"Ki—yaaa!" Her shout was cut off with a cry of pain as the other guy – crap, she'd forgotten about him – grabbed her by the hair again and jerked her back. She swung her arms and kicked her legs, hoping to make contact with the jerk. Problem was she was too short. Her eyes flooded with pained tears. It hurt. What kind of meany picks someone up by the hair?!

Despite her struggles, or maybe because of them, the man holding her grabbed hold of her arm so hard that it would probably bruise and twisted it awkwardly behind her back.

"The Jinchuriki is going with us."

Hotaru's stomach dropped at that word. It wasn't the first time she heard it, and it probably wouldn't be the last. These guys were here because of the Sanbi. And that meant… that meant…

She struggled hard now, even more frightened than before. No way was she letting these jerks do that! No way! She slammed her head back and made contact, hard enough to make him cuss. It wasn't until after that she remembered the reason Daddy told her that head-butts weren't smart: they hurt her too. The world swam in front of her eyes and she had to blink away the bleariness.

When her visions started to clear, just a little, she saw Kikyo hit the ground hard and roll, blood spilling down from her temple. "KIKYO!" Hotaru shrieked, feeling sick and scared. Her arms were shaking now, even as the asshole holding her arms down began to tie them together. She jerked and struggled, making the task for him as hard as possible. Maybe if she wriggled enough, she could get free and get Kikyo! Sure, she wasn't stronger than these guys, but if Hotaru knew anything it was how to run and hide! She'd done that for years!

"These damned fucking brats! Stop fucking moving!"

Hotaru wished she was like Kikyo, stubborn and strong and mean enough to have something to say back to him that would probably piss him off more while making him seem like the mean idiot he was. But she just wasn't like that and instead of being strong and stubborn and mean, Hotaru's eyes filled with scared and pained tears and she yelped, "Stop it! That hurts!"

"If you weren't such a fussy little demon, we wouldn't have to."

Hotaru flinched at the word. She'd been called a demon so many times that it made her sick and angry. She wasn't a demon. She wasn't the Sanbi. She didn't deserve any of their stupid crap! She did everything she could to fit in and get along and still everyone just kept calling her that.

Then Kikyo stood up again and Hotaru's frustration didn't matter anymore. The other girl's face was covered in blood, so much so that she had to spit it out. But she had that stupid determined look in her eyes and Hotaru knew what that meant. But she couldn't! She just couldn't! Kikyo had been hurt enough over her, she wouldn't let her do it anymore! "Let. Her. Go."

"No! Kikyo run!" Her voice was weak and pitiful and begging, Hotaru knew, but she didn't care. So long as Kikyo got away without getting hurt anymore she didn't care. "Go get Daddy! Or Ryu-oji! Please just run!"

"Ringo, hold the Jinchuriki," the guy holding her instructed with a sinister sort of chuckle.

Hotaru was sure she went pale, she felt like she should have been pale. Her hands were shaking and her face loosened up and she just felt so still and tense and terror, raw and unencumbered, welled in her stomach. No. No no no. She wanted to fight, to struggle, to break free, to at least try to help Kikyo, try to stop these bastards, but she couldn't move. It was like the fear had leaked into every part of her body and grabbed hold of her muscles and refused to let them so much as twitch.

"Don't you think we should take her with us as well?"

Was she hyperventilating? Hotaru felt like she was hyperventilating. She silently begged the guy that was carrying her to say 'yes'. Even if it meant they were going into danger, at least Kikyo would be—

"Nah, the Jinchuriki was our only target."

No. no no no.

"What would they say if we just bring some snot nosed brat with us?"

Please God no!

"It's quicker to just kill the extra."

"No!" Hotaru shrieked. "Stop it!"

She couldn't take this. No no no. They couldn't kill Kikyo! They just couldn't! She wanted to fight, to scream, to run, to get in the way, to do something but her entire body was still frozen with fear and all she could do was cry.

"You're not going anywhere with my stupid cousin."

No… please… Kikyo… just run… leave me and run… please…

"And you're going to stop us?"

Please Kikyo, please just run.

"Even if I don't the others will. You know why?"

The man charged forward faster than Hotaru could see, easily as fast as Kitsune-san or Itachi-san when they were even halfway serious. Kikyo somehow managed to duck. Hotaru still didn't know how she'd figured out how to time that, but she could get it just right every time. The little girl pushed in and kneed the man in the crotch and then head-butting him in the chin. Then she did that trick Itachi-san had taught them to knock bigger opponents down by aiming for the backs of their knees. The man flipped back to gain distance, rubbing his jaw and looking angrier than ever.

For a moment, Hotaru almost thought Kikyo stood half a chance of at least lasting until Daddy or Ryu-oji got there.

"Because you don't mess with the Tadashi clan unless you want to end up dead." Kikyo tried to charge again, but the man was just too fast. He met her lunge with one of his own. His foot slammed down hard on her arm and Hotaru heard a faint but distinct snap. It was so quiet, but it was almost all Hotaru could hear.

Dammit Kikyo, you should have run! Can't you tell that these guys aren't the normal lugheads?!

His knuckles, covered in a brass set that he could only have been using for added cruelty, slammed hard into her jaw, hard enough that one of her teeth came out. "No, no, no, no…" Hotaru whimpered.

"Hurry up and end it already. Someone might be looking for the brats by now."

"No, no, no, no…" Her entire body was trembling and she could feel this weird burning sensation in her stomach.

"Tch, you're no fun." The other man pulled out a kunai and slashed it across Kikyo's front. Her blood splattered across the grass and the trees and the stubborn idiot that was Hotaru's cousin fell.

"There, was that so hard?"

"Nah, but it was boring."

"KIKYO!" Hotaru shrieked, finally finding some sort of strength in her, enough to start struggling again. "KIKYO! KIKYO!"

"Will you shut up?"

"KIKYO!" She couldn't be dead. No way. Not Kikyo. She couldn't be dead. "KIKYO!" Please answer! Please!

But no answer came. Kikyo didn't so much as twitch.

Hotaru felt horrified and desperate and scared and so many other things that words couldn't describe. "KIKYO!" The burning in her stomach was growing, but it didn't exactly hurt which was kinda weird. "KIKYO!" Hotaru was starting to get angry, really angry. And her body was trembling and the burning was spreading out into the rest of her body. "KIKYO!"

How dare they?! How dare they hurt Kikyo?! How-how dare they-they—

Her little hands balled into fist and this burning rage that had spread through her entire body seemed to erupt outward into the air. Everything seemed to turn red and an enraged shout escaped her lips without her even meaning it.

Somehow, she managed to break through her bonds and swung at the unsuspecting bastard holding her, claws digging into his skin.

Wait, claws?! What the—

Something hit Hotaru hard in the back of the head and just like that, everything went black.

Bakuryuu's day had been going pretty smoothly. He got to go out and enjoy the sunshine. So what if his 'enjoying the sunshine' involved examining a crime scene complete with a dead body? It was still just a lovely day. He and Ryunashi were wrapping things up and heading back to the precinct to finalize some reports and input a few samples into the lab for further testing when Bakuryuu felt something strange.

Now strange wasn't exactly an uncommon word amongst the Tadashi. They solved crimes committed by ninja (and civilians) for a living; strange might as well be their middle name. But this was a different kind of strange, a kind of strange that was felt and not seen or heard as was more common.

"What is it, Bakuryuu?" his brother asked.

"I don't know," he murmured in answer, frowning seriously in the direction he could feel the strangeness. He concentrated a bit and felt his stomach twist. Hotaru was near it. Kikyo too. And two people whose chakra he didn't recognize that kinda felt like— "Mist ninja!" he gasped, breaking into a run immediately. Ryunashi didn't ask any questions, but rather started to run along beside his brother.

Bakuryuu thought he was running at his top-speed. He really did. But then he sensed an explosion of chakra came from ahead of them, the kind that only nine beings in all of creation could give off. And when he sensed that intense, mind-numbing, frightening thickness that was Biju chakra coming from a place near Hotaru… well, three guesses as to what he concluded must be happening.

And then Bakuryuu suddenly found himself running at least twice as fast as he had been seconds before. He ran so hard that he could feel the strain in his legs but dammit he didn't care. Hotaru was in danger, serious danger, and he wasn't about to just lope along like an idiot while his darling little princess needed him. No way in hell.

Then the Biju chakra vanished abruptly and Bakuryuu's stomach twisted in a way that made him want to vomit. But with it gone, he could sense the chakra in the surrounding area and that only made it worse because of what he could now feel. Or rather, what he couldn't feel now: Kikyo and Hotaru.

All the wind left his lungs and terror gripped his heart and he concentrated harder than he'd ever concentrated before. And then he could sense it. It was low and fading, but Kikyo's chakra was right around where the Sanbi's had blossomed just moments before.

They arrived on the scene mere seconds later to find Kikyo on the ground and in a very bad way. Her face was covered in blood as was her chest… and the grass… and the trees… Ryunashi's face got so dark that it probably would have scared Mother if she'd been there. "She's still alive," he told the other man. That was all the father had to hear before he was kneeling next to the girl, utilizing the medical knowledge in his arsenal to try and save his little girl's life. "You radio it in, I'm going to get Hotaru." He started to take off when his brother's voice stopped him.

"Bakuryuu?" Ryunashi's voice was quiet and held so much deadly threat in it that there probably wasn't a person alive who wouldn't have felt at least a little frightened by it. "Slow and painful."

A shadow came over the normally nice man's face. "I don't know if I can do slow with Hotaru there. How about fast and painful?"

"As long as it's painful."

As if Bakuryuu had intended for anything less. He locked on to Hotaru's chakra, which was thankfully still there, but low as if she was unconscious, as well as that of the soon-dead assholes who had dared to touch his daughter and niece.

It took longer than he wanted, but not as long as it probably should have for him to catch up with the two dead bastards who had Hotaru. Fortunately, he could sense Hotaru beginning to rouse which meant she wasn't hurt too badly. Unfortunately, that meant that he would have to be really careful so she didn't see anything too bad and get traumatized for life.

And then the most wonderful thing happened, he could sense Hotaru somehow managed to get away from the Mist Ninja and run in his general direction. Bakuryuu ran straight to her. She screamed when he jumped down from the tree but then her face brightened up and he could see immediate relief. "Daddy!" she launched herself at him. And then the waterworks started and he heard her whimpering about Kikyo being hurt and those 'mean men' and something else he couldn't really understand.

"It's okay now, Hotaru," Bakuryuu told her, setting her down in front of him and giving her a very serious look. "Ryunashi is with Kikyo and she'll be taken straight to the hospital. She should be fine in a couple days, Tadashi are just strong like that."

"But-but D-daddy."

"Shh. It's all going to be okay darling. But first I need you to do something for me, okay?" The Mist ninja were getting close.

"W-what?"

"We're going to play a game."

"A game?! But Daddy those men are nearby and-and Kikyo—"

"It's an important game," he told her.

"Games aren't important, Daddy!"

"Sure they are! It's even an easy game."

"But Daddy—"

He picked the girl up and took a few steps over, plopping her behind a tree. "Just close your eyes and count to ten. Okay?"

"But Daddy—"

"If you do that then we'll go straight home and I'll even buy you dango."

"But Daddy those men—"

"Hotaru, sweety, do you trust me?" The Mist ninja burst on the scene but slid to a stop at the sight of the jounin.

"Of course I do, Daddy!"

"Then close your eyes for me and count to ten. Count out loud for Daddy, okay?"

"But… okay…" Hotaru's little lip was trembling and she looked worried and scared and it just ripped Bakuryuu's heart out. But that was okay because he was about to rip the bastards responsible for her fears' hearts out. Her little eyes scrunched up and she even put her hands over them. "One…"

"You're Bakuryuu Tadashi, aren't you?"

"Two…"

"Sorry, I don't have much time to talk."

"Three…"

Bakuryuu's face grew dark and he rushed forward faster than these two jokes of jounin could probably see and kicked one in the stomach and grabbed the other by the neck. Man one went flying and crashed so hard into a tree that it rattled while he pulled man two over his shoulder and slammed his face into the tree. A little bit of a payback for whatever they'd put Kikyo through. But the real pain had yet to come.

"Four…"

A flick of his wrist and a kunai was in his hand which he used to swiftly and effectively cut man two's tongue out. It wouldn't do to let Hotaru hear them scream now would it? A little katon and he didn't even get blood all over his hands. Good because he'd have to pick his sweet little angel up in a moment and he didn't want this bastards disgusting blood getting on her.

Man one's shout of "Ringo!" almost drown out Hotaru squeaky little "Five…" That wouldn't do, Bakuryuu needed to be able to keep up with the count so he knew before Hotaru opened her eyes!

He threw man two down and stomped hard enough on his leg to break it so he would be able to get up and run away. Plus it was payback for poor little Kikyo's arm – with the way it had been twisted, one of these bastards had likely broken it. He let out a strangled cry of pain.

Man one's face had drained of color and he started to try to run away, but Bakuryuu was so much faster than he was.

"Six…"

Before he could shout anything, his tongue was removed as well. Bakuryuu slammed his back into the tree, holding onto his neck so tight that the other man probably couldn't breathe. He leaned in and whispered. "You should have known better than to mess with the Tadashi clan. Now you're going to have to learn better the hard way. Maybe your deaths will discourage future plans. Or maybe you won't be the last pursuers I kill."

"Seven…"

Bakuryuu didn't have much time left so he brought his hand up to Naraku's hilt. The blade was practically singing with anticipation as he pulled it free. Its massive killing intent flooded the area and for a second the man worried about Hotaru only to feel the Sanbi's chakra react in response, shielding her from it. Dammit, he wasn't supposed to have to be grateful to the damned thing that had caused his angel so much suffering!

"Eight…"

Later Bakuryuu. He swiped Naraku out and across the man's legs. Horrified and frightened cries escaped him as his flesh began to rot away on contact. Bakuryuu tossed him aside, the man was doomed to death within the next few minutes.

"Nine…"

The other Mist ninja was quickly dealt the same fate before Bakuryuu slid Naraku back into its sheath – "Only two?" it whined – and knelt in front of Hotaru.

"Ten." Her eyes opened and looked up at his face, wise and surprised. "Daddy… what just happened?" Little tears were gathered in the corners of her eyes.

He kissed her forehead and picked her up, careful to hide her face in his chest. With his chakra swirling like it was, she probably wouldn't be able to see the mess behind him, Byakugan or not. "I just took care of those men, sweety. It's all going to be all right now."

Then he leaped into the trees and took off before Hotaru could catch even a glimpse of the two men rotting away on the ground. He kept his chakra sense on them until there was no chakra left to sense. A bit of satisfaction swirled in his chest as he knew beyond a doubt that those two particular bastards were never going to threaten his sweet angel ever again.

It wasn't until they were approaching where he'd left Ryunashi – where he could sense a small gathering of ninja – that he realized a question he should have already asked. "Hotaru, sweety, how did you get away from those guys?"

"Hm?" She looked up at him and gave him a serious face that was too adorable to take seriously. "They forgot to tie me back up so I pretended to still be out and then kicked the one guy in between the legs. Then I ran away."

"That's my girl. Just remember not to do that to Daddy."

"I'm not Kikyo," she answered with a quiet giggle that faded into a morose expression. "Is she really okay, Daddy? Those mean men hurt her bad."

"She'll be okay. Kikyo's a tough little mongrel." He kissed her forehead and stretched his senses toward the hospital to reassure his own lingering worries. But she was still alive and her condition was a bit better than a little while before so he was sure she'd pull through. A one in a million chance was just about all most Tadashi needed, and Kikyo really was a tough little bugger.

"Bakuryuu! Hotaru!" the relieved voice of the Fourth Hokage greeted them as Bakuryuu landed in the midst of the ninja. "You're both all right." The blonde gave them a relieved smile.

"I think Kiri drastically underestimated the Tadashi clan," Bakuryuu told them. "Those two were no-names on the lower end of the jounin level. No trouble at all. I'm gonna take Hotaru on to the hospital to make sure she's as okay as she looks and I'll report in after."

"All right. Well I guess the rest of you can go home now."

~ Jinchuriki ~

"We're here~!" Daddy exclaimed way too loudly as he suddenly swung the door to Kikyo's room open with his foot. His arms were full of stuffed animals, flowers, candy, and balloons. Momma, Tsubaki, and Hotaru stared blandly at the man, their expressions mimicked by Kikyo and Izumi-oba in the room. Tsukiko, who was perched on her father's shoulders, threw her little hands in the air.

"We hewe!"

"Hush you two!" Momma shushed. "We're in a hospital!"

"Dummies." Tsubaki shook her head and gripped her mother's hand as they followed the loud duo into the room.

"They mean well," Hotaru told her milder sister with a smile, but it slid right off her face when she saw her cousin. "Hi." She felt awful seeing Kikyo like this. It was her fault after all, those guys were after her.

"Haha! Kiko wook wike a mummy!" Tsukiko went into a fit of giggles as her father placed all the stuff on the bed before letting his toddler down.

"Bakuryuu." Izumi lifted an eyebrow at him.

"What?" Her eyes darted to all the stuff then back to him with an almost scolding expression. "What?! My niece is in the hospital and I can't get her a few get well gifts?!" He held his arms up in defense.

"No, I expected a few presents… just not a stuffed animal army."

"I hewped pick them owt!" The bubbly green haired toddler waved her arm back and forth, very proud of herself.

"I bet you did, Sweety." Izumi smiled and picked her up to set her in her lap.

Momma searched the room. "Where's Ryunashi? I would expect him to be here right now."

Izumi-oba got a very dark look. "I wouldn't, not if he expects to continue on with his existence." Uh oh, Ryu-oji was in trou~ble.

"Uh oh~, what could he possibly have done?" Momma almost had to back up from the expression.

"Come on, let's get some coffee from down the hall." She stood and placed the toddler next to Kikyo as the two women exited the room, already whispering before the door shut behind them.

"Oh no Ryunashi, what have you done?" Daddy cringed in sympathy.

"I dunno." Kikyo shrugged.

What a great help she was.

"Anyway!" Daddy clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "Let's move on to something else! We got candy and toys so let's play!"

"Kiko?" Tsukiko held out a folded piece of paper with crayon scribbles all over it. "I made you a cawd!" She held it out excitedly. "Hewe is be hawt an be booboo band aide an hewe's me an you an 'Baki an Howu-nee an Hanji!" She pointed to all the scribbles. "Howu-nee is giving Hanji a piggy ride, see?"

Daddy just melted. "Isn't she a fantastic little artist~?!"

To be honest, it was all just a bunch of scribbles in grays and blues to Hotaru.

"Tsubaki has one too." Hotaru pointed to her white haired sister. "Come on Tsubaki, tell her what it says."

The white haired toddler blinked up at her cousin then down at her card then back again. "Haha, you wost," the two year old said in the most blunt tone. Everyone in the room froze for a second, feeling the temperature drop.

Kikyo's eyebrow twitched, broke arm or not she was about to throw the two year old out the window.

"Oh look at that!" Daddy checked his bare wrist nervously. "It's time for a potty break!" He scooped the to-be-doomed child up and carried her outside the room.

"Wait Daddy! I have-a potty too!" Tsukiko toddled/ran after her father and twin before he loudly shut the door behind them.

"You're sister's gonna get it." Kikyo's eyebrow continued to twitch.

"She's two Kikyo."

"I don't care." She tried to cross her arms, pouting.

"Are you okay?" Hotaru fiddled with her fingers and avoided eye contact.

"Yeah, I've had worse."

Oh yeah, I bet, Hotaru thought sarcastically.

"I'm available for proving her wrong."

Why would I want to do that?!

"What about you? How'd you get away? Did they hurt you?"

"They didn't get far. Daddy saved me." Hotaru sat on the side of the bed and hugged one of the teddy bears and pet its head.

Maybe Kikyo had missed those guys calling her that name?

"Oji?"

"Daddy's stronger than he looks Kikyo." Hotaru gave her a stern look. She better not be about to insult Daddy after everything he did!

"Whatever," She rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad those asses didn't get away with it."

"Yeah," she murmured half-heartedly. All this talk about the other day was bound to remind Kikyo about what those guys were calling her and… well Kikyo wasn't nice, but Hotaru didn't exactly have her pick of friends so she didn't want to lose the few she had. Plus it would make family dinners kinda awkward…

She pouted a little and went for some of the candy Daddy brought. It was more than Kikyo could eat, and Hotaru needed some comfort food.

"Hotaru?" The girl in question looked up, mouth full of chocolate. "What's a Jinchuriki?" Hotaru flinched immediately and looked away, swallowing all the candy.

Here it came, time to fess up.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter." Kikyo shrugged and reached for some of her candy.

Hotaru sighed. "I guess you should know. You'll probably just ask Ryu-oji or Izumi-oba or Kitsune-san anyway… Jinchuriki means the power of human sacrifice in an old language."

"That's very helpful, thanks," she snarked.

"I wasn't done yet." Hotaru huffed. "It's a special term used to describe a special kind of person."

"We all knew you were special, Hotaru."

"Kikyo! Stop interrupting!" She scowled at her cousin. Why did Kikyo have to be so difficult?! Didn't she realize that this was hard enough?! "A Jinchuriki is a person that has a demon sealed inside them."

She sighed again and wouldn't meet Kikyo's eyes anymore. She couldn't, she didn't know if she could stand those cold eyes in Kikyo's face. Sure, Kikyo was mean and all, but those eyes… they were on a whole different level.

"There are nine demons and so nine Jinchuriki," she continued. "The demons are also called biju – you've heard of one: the Kyubi no Kitsune."

And here it comes…

"Wait, you're—"

Ugh, of course she'd make that leap first. And Kikyo called her the dumb one.

"No, Kikyo. That Jinchuriki was a newborn, I would have been about four months old. The demon sealed inside me is the Sanbi no Kyodaigame."

"So… you have a turtle in you?"

"…yes. Basically."

"And they wanted the turtle?" Hotaru nodded. "Why?"

"Because biju are powerful. They're beings made entirely of chakra. You've heard about the Kyubi, all biju are just as strong."

Hotaru sighed. Any second now, Kikyo was going to go off and call her a monster or a demon or say she didn't want to play with her anymore…

"You jerk!" Kikyo threw one of the stuffed animals at her cousin and hit the other seven year old in the face.

And here it comes. Hotaru drew in on herself.

"Do you even realize how much harder I'm going to have to train now?! Just to make sure I can match that?!"

"…Wait, what?"

"The power of the Kyubi?! Seriously, like this week couldn't get any worse!" Kikyo exclaimed as she threw her arms up in the air. "And now I can't even fucking train because of this fucking cast!" She waved her broken arm like it was the worst thing in the entire world.

"Bu-but I can't actually use—you're not gonna call me a demon?" It made no sense. Why wasn't she reacting like everyone else?

"Why the hell would I do that? Seriously Hotaru, of the two of us I'm the more demonic one."

"B-but I… b-but you… b-but…"

"Now toss me the fucking chocolate! I need comfort food."

"B-but… o-okay…"

~ Bad News ~

Bakuryuu was rather rudely awoken in the middle of the night by loud, persistent knocking. He opened his eyes groggily and made a few incoherent noises, but Inoue was already on her feet and starting toward the door. "Wait for me!" he exclaimed, hurrying up and stumbling after her, rubbing his eyes as he did.

Apparently neither of them was as quick as Hotaru was though because they had just gotten downstairs when they heard the door open and her greeting the person on the other side, "Mah, Minato-san, what are you doing waking everyone up this late?"

"Minato?" Inoue muttered. "What would he be doing here?" She hurried to the door to the front room and slid it open, stepping up behind her daughter.

"That's a good question," Bakuryuu agreed, stepping in behind her. "Whatcha doin' here at… three in the— Three in the morning?! Why would you wake someone up at this hour?!"

"Hush, Bakuryuu!"

"I've got a bit of news," the blonde announced.

"I'll make some tea," Hotaru announced, starting toward the kitchen.

"Oh no you don't," Inoue caught her and turned her toward the staircase. "The last time you tried to make tea, you just made a mess. No, you are going to bed, young lady. It's way too early for you to be up."

"But Mommy, you're supposed to make tea for bad news!"

"What makes you say it's bad news, Princess?" Bakuryuu asked. "It could be good news!"

"Because Minato-san looks almost sick and because he came at three in the morning," she announced proudly.

"She has a point," Inoue pointed out. "But you're still going to bed, Hotaru. I'll make the tea."

"But Mommy…"

"Go check on your sisters and go to bed."

"Okay." She pouted but did as she was told.

"Come on in, Minato," Bakuryuu urged, gesturing him inside and closing the door behind him. "We can talk in the living room."

"I'll get that tea," Inoue told them, walking over to the kitchen while the men sat down.

Minato sat a bit uneasily. He fidgeted a bit and didn't seem to want to meet Bakuryuu's eyes. Hotaru was right. Whatever news it was that he came with, it wasn't good.

It didn't take Inoue long to return and take a seat next to her husband. "The tea should be ready in a little while. So why don't you tell us why you decided three in the morning was a good time for this?"

The blonde sighed. "You would probably be angry if I hadn't come as soon as possible. Besides, I would prefer you heard it from me than on the street in the morning."

"What? Are we the last to know or something?"

"No, but… well it'll be pretty obvious tomorrow morning."

"Now you're making me nervous," Bakuryuu told him. "What happened?" He gasped. "Did Ryunashi…?"

Minato cleared his throat. "Not from the Curse."

"Oh well that's good – wait, what?"

The blonde rubbed his face and sighed. "I'm very sorry, Bakuryuu, Inoue… but last night…" He took a deep breath and let it out. "Kitsune and Itachi murdered their entire clans."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!" the man snarled, on his feet in a moment.

"I'm sorry, I wish it wasn't true."

Minato explained in a grave tone that a ninja had been sent to investigate after a civilian had called an alarm and no Uchiha or Tadashi had shown up and he had discovered the destruction. He had called for backup and it was quickly discerned that the only living people on either compound were Sasuke and Kikyo, the latter of which had been rushed to the hospital and seemed to be in an unbelievable amount of pain. Bakuryuu had been out the door before Minato could explain that Sasuke had identified the culprits as his brother and Kitsune when he'd been awoken from the genjutsu he was in.