Torn Allegiance
by Aralain
Chapter 6
"Let's head back to the safe house," Kankuro decided after a while, praying Kosuke was back and he could pawn this back on her. Hamaki nodded watching the three quickly respond to Kankuro's call, lining up before him and following him from the yard.
Tenten watched with surprise as one of the girls, Yuki grabbed the stoic Hyuuga Kiyoshi's hand, pulling her along ahead of the others. "Are you my mother, shinobi-san?" she asked, looking up at Kiyoshi with large lavender eyes.
"Yuki," Yashi hissed to his sister. Yuki glanced back at the others with a pout.
"No Yuki-chan I am not, but I would like to find out who your mother is," she said, her own weatherworn hand closing around the little girl's.
"What if you can't find her?" Yuki pouted.
"Well then you will be raised by people who love and care about you just the same in Konoha where I come from," she said.
"Ko-no-ha," the girl repeated. "I like it here though."
"Yes well you will be much safer where I am from and people made just like you…" Kiyoshi stopped walking, kneeling beside her and activating her Byakuugan, "…and me will be able to train you to your highest potential," she said. The girl giggled, touching her face in awe. Kiyoshi didn't smile back but there was a small smile in her eyes.
"Who knew you'd be good with kids," Hamaki mocked, bumping into his teammate as he passed. She glanced up at him, standing without a word and taking hold of Yuki's hand once more, following the others.
Kankuro frowned, the currently more behaved Yuma walking beside him. Yuma may be a little deviant behind the scenes but she was a bit less eccentric than her brown-haired sister. Yashi walked beside Neji staring up at him, which Neji seemed to ignore, though the other jounin could tell he was acutely uncomfortable by the boy's gawking. The boy looked quite a bit like him, as did the others… Tenten was walking a bit behind them, seemingly lost in thought.
As they walked through the streets, people moved out of the way, most staring at Kiyoshi or Kankuro, but a few eyes settling on one of the three strange-looking children who they'd no doubt glimpsed before on this path.
"Here we are," Kankuro said, glancing over his shoulder.
"Kazekage-sama has had them kept them here?" Kiyoshi whispered in an awed tone, looking at the unassuming building. Neji glanced to his cousin then looked at the building, wondering what was special about the place.
"Kosuke wouldn't listen to reason, kept going on and on about how she wanted them close to her," Kankuro muttered with a scowl.
"It's dangerous!" Kiyoshi snapped. "She's not at her best."
"Try telling her that," Kankuro grumbled.
"Kosuke-san lives here?" Tenten inferred from the earlier comments. Kankuro nodded, looking around slowly.
"Come in!" a voice called from inside. Kankuro visibly relaxed at the sound of Kosuke's voice. He led them inside and down the hall to a large room. It was an informal room with couches everywhere and books stacked on large shelves. There were hundreds lining the walls.
"Yuma-chan, take Yuki and Yashi and help Kosuke in the kitchen. You know what happens when she goes in there," Kankuro instructed.
"Hai, Kankuro-san," the girl said, walking forward and pulling her sister into the large house by the elbow, while Yashi followed closely, Yuki complaining. They slipped out of their shoes quickly and disappeared even further inside.
"Sit if you want… I guess," Kankuro muttered, clearly uncomfortable with the group of shinobi. He waited until everyone had come fully into the room before sticking his head out into the hall and calling, "Kosuke, are you all right?" There were distinct giggles from down the hall.
"NO! No knives! I will make you run until I get tired! Yuki! Put it...! NO! Put it down!" Kosuke cried. Kiyoshi swallowed a smirk and Tenten smiled broadly.
Neji tilted his head up. "Something's burning," he said softly.
"Of course something is burning," Kankuro muttered, striding from the room and down the hall.
"Send them to me, will you?" the voice of the grumbling Kosuke floated from the open door. There were some footsteps and the more disruptive girl: Yuki was shoved lightly into the room and the door closed behind her. She walked forward with her hands behind her back as she smiled innocently.
None of the shinobi knew how to greet her so they just watched apprehensively as her lavender eyes passed over their faces lazily. Her eyes alighted on the stiff-looking Hyuuga male who sat on one of the couches. She walked up to him and sat beside him, legs pulled up in front of her, knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them to steady herself, rested her chin on her knees, and then she stared at him.
Tenten coughed loudly in an attempt to cover her laughter as Neji shifted uncomfortably under the girl's scrutiny. Her coughing turned to giggles that were silenced by a sharp irritated look from the Hyuuga, but a few moments later, her chuckles returned full force and Hamaki smirked at the Hyuuga's plight. Kiyoshi sat just as untroubled and serious as usual not even a smile on her steely face. She was clearly lost in thought not that anyone would notice.
"You look like Yashi, so... you're like us too, and the kunoichi over there too?" the girl said.
Neji stared at her for a few moments, before activating his kekkei genkai. She gasped with delight, reaching a little hand up to touch the veins on his face. He stared down at her with a blank expression. "I don't have it yet," she muttered, dejectedly, before glancing at the door with irritation as she pulled her hand away. "Yuma does and she thinks that makes her real special, always bossing me around," Yuki whispered to him only in a conspiratorial fashion. "I can still beat her up, though," she assured him quickly.
"Yashi's real quiet, but he tells ME stuff," she added proudly. "You're really quiet," she informed him. "Do you tell her stuff?" she asked, pointing in Kiyoshi's direction without looking away. Neji didn't respond. She suddenly reached up again with one of her hands, the other grabbing her own hair and pulling his bangs closer as she placed hers over it. His was a bit darker. She stared for a moment before letting her hair and his drop back into place with a small sigh, touching his cheek once more with a single finger.
There was a knock down the hall, then the soft padding of feet that only shinobi ears could have picked up. The voices were too low for the words to have been understood, though the group could recognize the tone of both. "Gaara-sama!" Yuki squealed, running from the room down the hall. That caused some confusion. Tenten, Hamaki, and Neji all looked to Kiyoshi for explanation of any child being excited to see the former jinchuuriki, but she didn't react at all, still sitting as silent and unmoving as before.
"Don't be nice to her, Gaara-sama," a voice chided as they walked up the hall. Gaara greeted them with a nod as he entered with Yuki literally hanging onto his arm, a rather humorous sight in itself, made more amusing by Kosuke pulling her away from him by the back of the shirt. Yuki tried to punch Kosuke in the stomach, but Gaara intercepted, grabbing her by the arm and turning her around firmly. He knelt in front of her.
"You will not do that again," he said, his voice brooking no argument. She stared at him wide-eyed before nodding, looking a bit shaken. Gaara released her arm, which Kosuke took, leading her out. The exchange was surprising but the strange silence passed as Gaara stepped fully into the room.
They all rose as Gaara entered. Hamaki and he clasped hands briefly. "We need to discuss the transfer of the children to your own village Hyuuga-san. I'm afraid I cannot offer you Kosuke as an escort for at least six months and I am sure you want them to go back to your village as soon as possible."
"No, of course she needs to be here," Kiyoshi replied softly glancing towards the door. Gaara glanced to her, his eyes taking her in for a few moments before they returned to Neji.
"Matsuri however, is as you know one of my most trustworthy aids and I would like at least someone familiar to the siblings to travel with them. I will need about three weeks to get everything in order for the transfer perhaps a bit more with the current situation. I assume that you, Hyuuga-san, will wish to investigate just how three of the Hyuuga bloodline have been found so far from home with such already advanced abilities."
"How does this aid know the siblings?" Neji asked.
"She and Kosuke both live here as do the siblings currently. We could not simply limit their exposure to one person hard as we tried. Those three are a handful," Kankuro said from the door where he now stood, arms crossed. A smirk formed on his face as he continued. "Kosuke can barely take care of herself, let alone..."
"I heard that!" Kosuke's voice rang from down the hall. Kankuro winced, glancing over his shoulder.
"Heard what?" he snapped back, crossing his arms stubbornly. She appeared, punching him on the arm and smiling over at Kiyoshi.
"Come on Kiyoshi-san. Help me save what's left of dinner," Kosuke said, placing her arm over Kankuro's shoulders even as he rubbed his arm from the blow. "Gaara-sama will be able to enjoy what's been burnt. It's what he deserves for giving Matsuri the evening shift at the tower when there were likely to be guests at this house. He knows I can perform S-rank missions with more ease than I can prepare a meal. You'd think he was trying to get rid of me in a fire or some kind of explosion," she said. Kiyoshi crossed the room silently and followed Kosuke into the hall, the Kazekage and Kankuro turning to allow them to pass.
Kiyoshi followed her friend down the hallway and into the kitchen. She frowned at the food. "Please tell me you have more," she murmured, looking around the kitchen.
"Come on it's not that bad!" Kosuke cried.
"Yes, well… my obaasan would never speak to me again if she ever found out I placed something like that on the table especially before Neji-sama or the Kazekage," she said palely, imagining the horrified look on her poor dear grandmother's face at the very sight of this.
Kosuke sighed, moving to sit on the counter as her friend restarted from scratch. Kiyoshi moved quickly tried to put as something together as quickly as possible. She'd been cooking with Grandmother Hitomi for her brothers and cousins since she was very young and her grandmother would be disappointed if she couldn't pull this off. She concentrated as much on her work as possible, avoiding Kosuke's gaze as much as she could.
"What's wrong Kiyoshi?" Kosuke asked as she took in her friend's strange demeanor. Kiyoshi thoroughly enjoyed cooking and was usually much more light-hearted and teasing about Kosuke's complete inability to cook. Kosuke hopped off the counter, but Kiyoshi didn't respond, brushing past her as she added the noodles to water, quickly dumping Kosuke's attempt at a meal. After a few minutes of this, Kosuke stepped firmly in front of the younger kunoichi.
"What's happened? Is it about the assassination attempt?" she demanded, grabbing her shoulder. Kiyoshi stopped but did not look up at Kosuke, holding a small bowl in her hand a bit too tightly. It cracked under her grasp. Kosuke looked down at it sharply. She bent down to grab the pieces before they crashed to the ground, which would have certainly drawn attention from the other room.
"I cannot talk to you about this right now," Kiyoshi said.
"Well I-" Kosuke quieted when she heard a step in the hallway. She turned to the door, frowning at Gaara.
"Kazekage-sama, might Kiyoshi-san and I have some privacy?" Kosuke asked.
When Gaara responded it was in a bare whisper of a voice, one that both kunoichi had to strain to hear. "I would like to afford you that, but I don't suppose what Kiyoshi-san has to say is something she would wish our entire party to hear," Gaara said glancing from Kosuke to Kiyoshi. His eyes settled upon her, taking her in very carefully. "Hyuuga Neji seems to have particular interest in the conversation." Kiyoshi quickly brushed past Kosuke, picking up a new bowl and setting it down upon the counter.
"Thank you Gaara-sama. Kosuke-san and I shall endeavor to restrict our private conversations to a more solitary place at a more appropriate time," she said, placing both her hands on the counter and bending slightly over it, drawing a deep breath. Kosuke glanced to her friend before looking back at Gaara who was watching her closely.
"If you would please excuse us Gaara-sama, I will have a suitable meal prepared in short order," she spoke again. Her voice was weak, as Kosuke had never heard it. Gaara opened his mouth to speak, but Kosuke held up her hand by instinct. Gaara stood for a long moment before nodding to Kosuke and disappearing.
Kosuke turned, looking through her short brown hair at her stiff Hyuuga friend. She reached out to touch her shoulder, but Kiyoshi pulled away from her. Kosuke backed away, not liking the expression she caught the split-second Kiyoshi's face was visible before she turned continuing her cooking. "I'll see if anyone needs anything," Kosuke said, heading for the door.
"Arigatou," Kiyoshi whispered just as she reached the door. Kosuke paused in the doorway, wondering why her friend was so distressed but continuing down the hall anyhow. Kankuro was explaining the mission where the children were found. She didn't go in right away, closing her eyes. It had been her mission and it hadn't gone well. She still had a comrade in the hospital. Still, if they hadn't found those kids Gaara wouldn't have requested a Hyuuga which wouldn't have brought Hamaki's team to the border a few days before and that could have resulted in a number more casualties. Baki-senpai in particular would have been a huge loss to the village. It was a strange thing… fate.
Kosuke glanced back towards Kiyoshi, but decided not to go back. She entered the room shaking her head to stop Kankuro and Gaara from rising. "Kiyoshi-san started it all over," she said by way of explanation. "Something about her grandmother would disown her if she served that rubbish." A few of the others chuckled.
"Thank goodness. You don't want to know what they're feeding us here shinobi-san," Yashi muttered to Neji who glanced down at him.
"Respectful Yashi!" Yuma hissed from the other side of the proud Hyuuga.
"Don't tell him what to do!" Yuki snapped.
"All of you will be silent or you will leave this room immediately!" Kankuro barked. They looked to him, then all three pairs of eyes turned to Kosuke as if her decision would be different.
"Don't you look at me," Kosuke said. "You've brought it upon yourselves."
"We should probably talk logistics, Kazekage-sama. We know that there is some kind of organizing going on around the borders now, perhaps from the Mist's side. Regardless of what that… thing… was… it will not be possible to move the Hyuuga children until the route is cleared. Even then it might not be worth it," Hamaki said.
"And we need Kiyoshi here for communications with Konoha which would leave you without your right hand shinobi," Kankuro said, having heard it from Hamaki more than once. He didn't go out without Kiyoshi, not since she'd been assigned to him over two years ago unless it was of the utmost importance or she was injured in some way.
"So the question becomes: where do we go from here?" Hamaki said, folding his hands behind his head.
"The children must be moved, but they do not need to be moved now," Gaara said.
"I agree. I believe they should be kept here where we can protect them until the route is less treacherous. I will protect them with my life," Kosuke assured them.
"You will be risking more than just your own life," Neji spoke and eyes turned to him. He hadn't spoken in a long while almost long enough to forget his presence.
"What do you mean, Neji-san?" Tenten asked.
"If it was a secret, you would not have had this kunoichi guarding three Hyuuga." He glanced down at her stomach, which she covered unconsciously.
"It isn't," Kankuro said sternly. "Kosuke says she's-"
"I don't just say Kankuro! I can fight and I will fight to protect them. Besides, I'm unable to take on missions so I'm the only high-ranking jounin who can protect them with the village on high alert like we are," she said.
"If they are to stay here, we will need a Konoha shinobi watching over them- as well," Neji added before the kunoichi could object.
"Who would you suggest? Hamaki and Kiyoshi have too many responsibilities within the village and that one has been tasked to guard you, has she not?" Kankuro looked at Tenten who frowned at having had her name forgotten.
"I do not need protecting," Neji said.
"Whatever is brewing outside these walls obviously has something to do with the Hyuuga and while I would rather send the whole lot of you back to where you come from, I have been overruled in this," Kankuro snapped. Neji stiffened, about to rise.
"Kankuro, Kiyoshi is Hyuuga," Kosuke said, placing a hand on his arm.
"Hardly. Do you have any idea the kind of treatment the Hyuuga gave her when I was last in Konoha?" Kankuro growled. "At least in Suna our shinobi are treated with respect and dign-" Neji rose angrily, but Hamaki was one step quicker, hand on the Hyuuga's chest before he could advance on the Kazekage's own brother right in front of him.
"If you've completed your… discourse, dinner is complete," Kiyoshi said from the doorway, standing stiffly with her arms crossed. No one moved for a few moments, trying to process the interruption into the tense situation. The children were the first to jump up, eager to leave these uptight shinobi behind. Kosuke rose next, following them into the dining room and the others followed.
"Kankuro," she said softly as he moved to walk past her, the last before the Kazekage. "You do not know the Hyuuga and you certainly do not understand our customs. Do not presume to judge us even if it is as my friend."
"I wonder each day if we are as much friends as we are business-partners," he said. "And poor ones at that. Can our village's bond be so strong when even our alliance contract is betrayed and without an eye batted by the Ambassador whose duty it is to see it through."
"Kankuro," Gaara said dangerously from behind him and Kankuro huffed, moving on from the room. Kiyoshi deflated as soon as he was past, uncrossing her arms and watching him go down the hallway as Gaara walked up before her.
"Does he think me so terrible that it does not destroy me to watch all our hard work crumble and slide like sand from my hands," she whispered, looking down at her shaking hands.
"He is rash my brother. He has neither patience nor tact," Gaara replied.
"This is not a problem to be solved by patience my lord," Kiyoshi said, her hands shaking before her. "This is a problem not to be solved… ever." Her voice trembled with the words.
"Kiyoshi!" Kosuke called from down the hall causing her to flinch. She finally looked up at the Kazekage, heart-broken lavender meeting a pain-filled green.
"Gaara, I-I can't…"
"I will make excuses, just be careful Kiyoshi," he said without hesitation. She nodded, turning the opposite way and quickly leaving the building.
Kiyoshi took to the rooftops, running until she reached the highest point in the village, the tier at the top of Kazekage Tower and there she stood, her head bowed, wind blowing her long blue-tinged black ponytail behind her, her bangs fluttering around her face. She sat down with a defeated sigh, folding her legs before her. She closed her eyes, forcing back the tears.
Emotions were her weakest point. She'd always known that. How could they not be? She'd gotten so far on a need to redeem those that she loved the most. She had been betrayed so completely from such a young age but it had never taken that need for love from her. She craved love more than anything else in this world. She had never thought that duty and love would tear her apart so completely, but she knew now that it would be the end of her… at least the her she knew. She knew she could never go against her duty but that part of her… the part that craved so much for love, it would die and so would the person she had been.
"What the hell are you doing out here?" a voice asked. She looked over her shoulder to see Kosuke glaring at her.
"Hiding," she spoke.
"You were blown up Kiyoshi! You were blown up by a shinobi of SUNA and here you are out here, unprotected!" she growled.
"There are at least five Suna ANBU who can see me from here," Kiyoshi replied, turning to face the wind once more.
"That is the point Kiyoshi. You do not know who your friends are," Kosuke said.
"Who then? Kankuro?" Kiyoshi muttered.
"You know he didn't mean those things!" Kosuke said.
"You don't even know why he said them," Kiyoshi told her. "He had every right to say what he did not that I'd ever tell him that."
"So tell me!" Kosuke shouted. "I'm sick and tired of being kept out of the loop surrounded by all these great and powerful people who overlook me because of this!" The kunoichi pointed at her midsection.
"No one could underestimate the woman who had the patience to put up with Kankuro long enough to bear his child," Kiyoshi said.
"That isn't funny and don't avoid! You have told me everything since we fought together in the war. Who are you to start keeping secrets now?"
"Think about it Kosuke-san," Kiyoshi said.
"I don't want to think… I don't want to guess. I want you… my FRIEND to tell me the truth," Kosuke snapped, her brown eyes blazing with anger. Kiyoshi glanced back at her before sighing and looking out over Suna once more.
"The contract fell through," Kiyoshi said.
"What? How?" Kosuke barely breathed, taking a stumbling step back.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes," Kosuke replied. Kiyoshi nodded knowing she'd say the same thing.
"Hyuuga Hiashi has denied the marriage proposal," Kiyoshi explained.
"No!" Kosuke whispered.
"He attached the kunoichi to the highest-ranking male member of the clan aside from himself… the strongest Hyuuga," Kiyoshi said, but this time there was no pride in her voice. It was not like speaking of this to Hinata-sama… to her grandmother. This was Kosuke. She was the only one who knew the true Kiyoshi, who knew her heart as no other could. A bond had been formed during the great shinobi war between the two, a bond that could never be broken, one that brought the deep-buried Kiyoshi to the world during those dark days.
"I will be married upon my return to Konoha," she said, her voice more than just pale… it was broken.
Kosuke took a few careful steps forward. She sat down next to her comrade and hesitantly lifted her arm, draping it over her shoulders and pulling her sharply beside her. The kunoichi drew no attention, her face shadowed by long black bangs as tears silently tracked down her face. It was the first time in years she'd allowed herself to break. The last one had been after the death of a good comrade. This though… this lack of control… no one was dead, they were just outside her reach. It was worse than death. "I'm sorry Kiyo. I'm so sorry," Kosuke whispered, but her words meant little.
Gaara sat in his office, the wind carrying the softly spoken words into his office. He'd left the safe house only minutes after Kiyoshi. Of course he'd heard everything said from above him. He was one of the strongest shinobi in the world, his senses keener than most. If he concentrated he would have even been able to smell the salt of her tears in the air, but he didn't… he couldn't. He stared out the window over his village, darkness in him that he had not felt in a long time.
Thank you for reading.