Author's Notes: I've had the last two parts of this story sitting around for the past couple of years. I'm not at all happy with the action scenes, but I no longer have any motivation to work on this. For those who wanted me to complete this, I'm putting up these parts, but please forgive me if they're not up to par with the rest of the story. This is the fifth story and I had planned for seven. I'll clean up what I have for stories 6-7 and post them as well sometime this year, I hope.

Part II The Kidnapping

Another Day at the Office

Raikage Maruyama Rikako, formerly jounin Otori Rikako of Hidden Leaf Village, checked her appointment book. A meeting with her uncle this afternoon, she'd better summon her eagle and get going. It was not going to be a pleasant meeting. She had decided to cut funding to the research facility and discontinue a number of their projects. Arai wanted a meeting to plea his case personally. Normally she would just ignore him and continue with the cuts above his objections, but he was family and she owed him that much for his life's work. But times have changed, she was the Raikage and Hidden Leaf Village was a strong ally. The money being spent on concocting stronger hybrid shinobis could be better spent on public works. Then there was another topic of discussion – her older sister Rei.

After Rikako shorted out the misfiring parts of her brain, Rei was returned to Hidden Cloud Village. She was again incarcerated and analyzed for mental stability. Her behavior and brainwaves soon proved normal and she was responsive to psychotherapy treatment. The sudden rages were gone. If anything, her manner assumed a rather temperate affectation. She became interested in helping the other patients and learning medical jutsus. Arai, pleased at her recovery, supported her ambitions. Now he wanted to speak to Rikako about allowing her to leave the facility at will. Rikako wanted to check her mind personally to be sure.

Rikako's Reflections

Kakashi will be coming for a visit next week. She smiled at the thought.

She had asked him whether he was satisfied with their arrangement. It was a rhetorical question. She knew what his answer would be even if he didn't mean it. So why did she ask in the first place?

She knew he loved her. She also knew without reading his mind that he was not happy about their arrangement though he pretended it was what he preferred. Each time she was ready to return to Hidden Cloud Village he would hold her tightly, too tightly, as if he did not want to let her go, as if he were afraid she would never return. So tightly, she could not breathe and had to hold her breath, waiting for him to release her, but each time she was the one who finally pulled away, or rather pushed him away, saying in her rather annoyed voice, "What are you trying to do? Suffocate me?" He would then apologize with an embarrassed laugh. There were no sad or touching good-byes.

But did she love him as much as before, after so much time apart? She could not afford to think of him during her waking hours, such a distraction from her plethora of paperwork. She worked late into the night and often fell asleep at her desk. She rarely had the luxury to think about him at all. But now while flying on her great eagle, she let her mind dwell on their relationship.

It's been nearly three years since they first became involved. It seemed like a lifetime ago. So much has happened since then. Because of her powers, she had always had it relatively easy with her missions. Nothing bad happened and she always emerged unscathed, untouched in heart, mind or soul. But since Kakashi told her about her origins, it was like being in free fall, of one heartbreaking experience after another. She had grown up a lot, but unfortunately in terms of not trusting people, of hardening her heart, putting aside her original intentions of being a healer to become an instigator of death. But now she was doing penance, reparations for her actions.

There was too much going on in her life that she could not tell him. She was the Raikage and all the problems of the country was knowledge forbidden to him. And when she asked him for news about Konoha, he would say something general or change the topic or sidestep it with sex, as if he did not trust her with any real information. Suspicious, she would open her eyes' receptors slightly, just to see whether he was purposely avoiding discussion, but the only thing on his mind each time was sex! But did he purposely have those thoughts to throw her off?

Each time she saw him she felt they grew further apart. But she was alone in this feeling. It wasn't that she loved him any less, but it was an insurmountable wall between them, and she found she had less and less to say. Yet he didn't seem to notice. All he seemed to care about was sex, but that was true of any man. No, that wasn't a fair assessment. She knew how he loved her, how he put up with her, forgave her, despite everything. And she loved his well-toned body with its multitude of scars. Each one had its own story, a sad and tragic mission, a tale of determination and courage. Her own body had just as many scars, but they were predominantly self-inflicted, nothing courageous or noble. But like him, her genuine scars were on the inside.

Why did she bind herself to such a man with no ambition? Yet she couldn't free herself of the intense feelings that she would admit to only if pressed. In truth, they had little in common. He with his easygoing playful manner, tardiness, laziness, and obsession over crude stories. She with her strong will, obsessive punctuality, restlessness, and preference for all books but those (well, they were sometimes quite amusing). And yet there was no other who drove her mad with want – want as in desire and want as in wanting to kill him when he annoyed her, which was fairly often.

She had known other men who were probably more compatible, but they paled in comparison to his sense of honor and to his pathos. Perhaps finally, it was the latter that bound her. She knew him, knew him better than she knew herself, from the time she searched his mind to find out about her past. There she encountered such pain and guilt hidden just below the surface of his ever ready false smile. For him to carry such a burden…she wanted to ease that burden, give him someone to hold onto. She wanted to help him. Perhaps it was the shinobi medic in her who wanted to help those in physical and mental anguish. He was like a patient she could not leave because she felt responsible for him. And of course she loved him, more than anything.

What if he did find someone else? Despite what Kakashi thought, she would not have been upset or jealous, but rather relieved. In part because she did not like to have her attention divided between her Raikage responsibilities and her personal life. But also because he deserved to be happy, she wanted that more than happiness for herself. If you truly love someone, set them free, an old axiom. She tried that a couple of times, but still he returned to her of his own free will. After all, it was a false freedom if someone else decided for you. So she continued their relationship such as it was, with her love for him ranging from obsession to pity.

If she had really wanted a serious discussion about their relationship, she could have pressed the issue, but in truth they were both not the kind to discuss their feelings openly and both were afraid that in examining their relationship, they would ultimately agree it was futile. He couldn't give her what she needed – absolution and freedom. She couldn't give him what he wanted – a quiet, peaceful existence. If his façade was a false cheerfulness, then her façade was to be cool and in control of her life while a desperate rage simmered beneath her cool exterior. She did not want to look weak like some mewing abandoned kitten or some pathetic lovelorn girl that needed protection. He wouldn't want someone like that.

But the two of them were more alike than either would have thought. Both lived their lives under delusions and deceit, lying to themselves and others, pretending to be something they were not.

Now she needed to concentrate on Rei. It would be nice to have a real sister. Growing up as an only child, sometimes she was lonely, though she did prefer solitude. There was no one here for her in this country, just her team of advisors, some fawning, some with their own agenda, some she expected to betray her.

There was Sakai. They were about the same age, but no one would have thought it. She still had her youthful visage, unlined except for the scar running vertically across her left eye from the time she borrowed Kakashi's sharingan without his permission (stealing was such a negative term!). She had always seemed older than what she appeared. But back then it was because of her assumed formality and genuine maturity. Now there was the hardness of a long experienced warrior in her cool expression.

She made him an advisor because she knew he would be completely loyal to her, no matter what. His deceased father and grandfather had been advisors, all loyal to the Raikage. And he was in love with her. A nice boy, but silly, emotional, was what she thought of him and his crush on her. He was not her type - he lacked the maturity and sophistication – but such blind loyalty could be useful, and his family was the Raikage's historians. He had a wealth of useful knowledge.

There was Hizashi who had betrayed her and used her. Now he was her advisor. She trusted his political advice. He wanted to keep Fire Country safe as well as Thunder Country. That they always agreed on. But they often clashed over domestic issues, where to cut back, what taxes to levy, how to revamp shinobi graduation requirements. She didn't trust him completely, despite the debt he owed her for sparing his life, for forcing her to this country where she had no one.

Those two, her most trusted advisors, they were not family. Rikako rarely gave way to imagination or fantasy, but she thought how nice it would be to have her sister by her side. Someone who understood and appreciated the same things, or if she didn't have the same tastes, someone to discuss important issues with. Now with her sister regaining her sanity and no longer prone to violent outbursts, maybe they could become friends and be a real family, along with their uncle. It would be nice, wouldn't it?

Betrayal

Rikako gave a brusque nod to the kneeling and bowing guards as she entered the hospital and made her way to Arai's office. "Raikage-sama," Arai said, bowing. "Thank you for taking the time off from your busy schedule to meet with me. Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you." She had learned her lesson. Kakashi was right about not consuming anything you haven't seen prepared or have tested.

"Well," he said while pouring himself a cup of tea, "I've read over your proposal…"

"You mean my order."

"Yes, well, there's always room for negotiation, isn't there?" he said smoothly.

"I'm afraid your research facility is more like a jail than a research center. I've given you a year's reprieve already. Besides, we're at peace now. Shinobi genetic engineering is…passe."

"You never know what can happen in the future. Just because we have an alliance with Leaf…with a new hokage, who knows what can happen."

"Hokage Tsunade fought in the shinobi wars and she was the premier shinobi medic. She's no threat to peace."

"What about the one after her? Or the one after that? We must maintain an advantage. And what of the orphans we've helped?"

"Helped?"

"We took them in, fed them, trained them, gave them a sense of purpose. Many of them had shinobi parents after all."

"That doesn't give you the right to experiment on them."

"We made them strong and useful. Only a few have had…side effects. The experiments worked, it's just their minds that are unstable. If you would just volunteer to help with some tests…"

"I don't have time for that." She thought, Besides, my sanity is probably because I was an infant raised by good sane people, rather than mad scientists. Most of the creations had been orphans, inducted into the program at various ages. War left no shortage of volunteers. She had tried to help them, but the nature of the research altered their DNA and the brains' physiology. Unlike her sister's, their brainwave patterns were no longer in sync with humans.

"Well, just a thought. Still, whatever you did to Rei seemed to have helped. Of course, she was the least…affected. She's been working with me on the other cases. They're improving. If you cut our funding…"

"You'll still have enough to support them, just no new projects, and a few staff cuts."

"My staff includes the most experienced genetic researchers in all the shinobi countries. If you let them go, they may find work elsewhere, despite having signed confidentiality agreements. If only we could get hold of a fresh sharingan or byakugan, I know we can clone…"

"That's not going to happen. Tampering with nature either with science or chakra is not a good idea. The results are unpredictable. Have you heard of Gaara of the Sand?"

"He's the Kazekage now. Not too bad of an end result really. And you're the Raikage. If Naruto becomes Hokage…all three of you are…special shinobis."

"None of us by choice."

"It's a small sacrifice for the good of the country."

"Really? If we were to go to war there would be more destruction by more powerful shinobis. Having demonic powers doesn't guarantee peace."

Arai finally and wisely said nothing for a while. He could tell she was about to lose her temper. But he thought, Peace is guaranteed by fear. If they fear us, they will not attack us.

Rikako never liked to be told what to do. Her independence sometimes drove her to unwise decisions, especially in regards to her personal relations. To be what she was not by choice or chance, but someone's creation, was the ultimate insult. If she had been born a normal child, what would her life have been like?

"Your father would have understood. He was...a patriot."

"My father died a long time ago and times have changed. I never knew him anyway, so it doesn't matter what he would have thought."

"He knew what had to be done for the good of the country. He was willing to become a shinobi to protect the country, despite our father's objections. Normally, our family would rather work behind the scenes. What good is it if the clan were wiped out in battle? And he was willing to offer his own children…your mother, too."

"Did she agree or was she tricked into it?"

Arai decided to drop the subject. He was obviously not getting anywhere with her.

"Please, is there anything that will change your mind?"

"I'm afraid not. The war caused a lot of damage in addition to deaths. The treasury is just recuperating from funding numerous necessary public works."

"Well, I guess it can't be helped then. Would like to see your sister now?" he asked as finished his tea.

-…-...-…-…-…-…-…-…-

Arai took Rikako to an examination room where Rei was waiting patiently.

"Raikage-sama," said Rei, getting up and bowing low.

"Rei," she nodded, "how have you been?"
"Good," she smiled, "I've been helping out with the patients and learning medical jutsus. I really feel I have a new lease on life." But she thought, Raikage-sama, hah, you don't even ask me to call you Rikako, dear sister.

Rikako observed her carefully. She had put on weight since she last saw her a few months ago. Rikako always meant to visit more often, but between all her official duties and the little time she had with Kakashi…she really should try harder. Rei looked even more like her double, now that she's filled out a bit and with some color in her pale face.

"Our uncle feels you're ready to be let back into society. Is that how you feel?"

"Yes, Raikage-sama. Those sudden uncontrollable rages are gone thanks to you. Although I'd like to continue my work here, I would like to do some traveling, visit our parents' grave, and just get a feel for normal everyday life. And I would like to help you in any way I can."

"All right, if everything checks out, we'll talk about it some more. You have the potential to be a great shinobi medic." She gave her sister an encouraging smile.

Rei lay down on the hospital cot. Rikako sat in a chair next to it and then placed her hand on Rei's forehead. Her chakra tendrils extruded from her fingertips and into Rei's orifices. Rikako's eyes turned black as her pupils enlarged to receive the brainwave signals. But as Rikako started to check Rei's mind, Rei sent out a psionic blast, a brainwave feedback. Rikako's receptors were completely opened and the blast hit her at full strength. She became disoriented, for a second, enough time for Arai to release the poison gas. Rikako immediately blasted a hole in the wall, followed by a wind jutsu to release the gas to the atmosphere, but she had inhaled enough for it to be effective. Before she could use her healing techniques, clamps came out of the special chair, binding her hands and legs. Arai threw a switch to drain her chakra. Rikako was conscious enough to concentrate chakra to her arms and legs and broke free of the clamps, but Arai and Rei had more backup plans as she used another mind attack and he injected her with a triple dose of sedatives.

"Damn, she's strong." Arai's calm smooth voice.

"See, I told you." Rei's cold cynical voice.

Flashback:

Arai and Rei had been planning this for weeks, ever since Rikako sent Arai a notice of her intention to reduce funding. Arai was most annoyed, "...just as we were making progress. Too bad your sister doesn't understand the importance of our research the way you do."

"Yeah, too bad I'm not the Raikage." She gave Arai a conspiring look and things snowball from there.

Arai and Rei both took the antidote atropine for the nerve gas. They knew it wouldn't kill her, they didn't want that, yet, but it would slow her down enough for them to capture her alive, preferably.

Arai, "I'm sorry, Rikako, but you really shouldn't have cut our budget…"

Rikako tried to focus her mind. She had to escape. What are they planning? Why? Her own kin! Her last thought, Kakashi's right about wearing a mask all the time, you never know when a barrier against poison gas is necessary…

Arai's Experiments

Flashback to 25 years ago:

Genetic encoding via the introduction of retroviruses imbibed with RNA from various species, that's the secret. Retroviruses contained the enzyme reverse transcriptase, which allowed RNA to be encoded as DNA instead of the usual reverse genetic information flow, all controlled and made compatible with the use of chakra... Forced increase of cellular chakra accomplished by increasing the number of mitochondria, the organelles used to produce energy within the cells...Replacement of certain atoms via selective doping…

"You know what this entails?"

"Yes."

"You've agreed of your own free will?"

"Yes."
"And you've signed all the necessary paperwork?"

"Yes! Let's just get on with this!"

"All right, just take a few deep breaths and relax. Look into my eyes…"

Arai used genjutsu to hypnotize the young woman with the dark hair and even darker eyes, sending her into a painless sleep. He worked quickly, sometimes using his chakra, sometimes using a regular scalpel to cut into her body. He removed the ovum and placed it in the petri dish with the recombinant DNA, then applied chakra to force fertilization and mitosis. In a few days he can then split the zygote. Then after another week he could implant one of the embryos into its mother and freeze the other for future use…

Maruyama Midori, one of the most successful mind seekers naturally born, the Raikage wanted to clone her powers, but more than that, to improve upon nature, to expand her powers. A mind seeker capable of affecting the masses would require additional chakra reserves...

This will be an interesting experiment. Almost a clone of the mother, but with additional cellular mitochondria, and with selected DNA from his brother, with their clan's special abilities. Not quite the byakugan, which he coveted more than anything, but she did make an interesting subject.

Ah, if only he had the byakugan, he would have microscopic penetrating vision, he would be a perfect shinobi surgeon, the perfect scientific instrument.

-----***********-----

The Arai clan were not shinobis although a handful took that path over the generations, but that was considered a lowly vocation. True power was the power over the construction of life, not how many jutsus you knew, or how powerful your jutsus were. None of that was important, only the perfection of the shinobi who used the jutsus.

The clan had its own techniques to pass down. Perfect chakra control to any of the five senses. A whiff of perfume and he could break down the many odoriferous ingredients and their ratios He could discern the tiniest amount of poison in his food, or just a crystal of too much salt (he's a very picky eater). His touch was more sensitive than a blind man's. His hearing as acute as a dog's, or he could block all sound. . His eyes with telescopic and microscopic vision were as sharp as a hawk's. But he didn't have the penetrating vision of the byakugan or the 360 degree vision. He did get a hold of a byakugan two decades ago. Disappointingly, analysis yielded nothing.

He also had complete efficiency in channeling chakra and performing seals, not the tiniest bit of chakra wasted. His mind was immune to mental attacks. He could control his brainwave frequency and his mind blocks were near impenetrable. Only under direct examination by a mind seeker specialist would he give up his secrets. He's very lucky his naïve nieces trusted him.

He controlled his emotions with the same precision. Always cool, calm, collected, even when facing certain death for himself, or when watching it. The former situation was rare, the latter common. His attacks were medically based, chakra scalpel to attack nerves, ligaments, tendons, muscles, veins and arteries, poison senbon needles to attack pressure points. But he rarely fought; he preferred not to fight, or rather preferred to have others fight for him. Fighting is so barbaric.

Arai had Rikako drugged and strapped to a gurney hooked up to various monitors. IVs ran in and out of her veins administering a constant drip of sedatives and nutrients. Electrodes were attached to her forehead. Her brainwaves, heart rate, galvanic skin response, and chakra were all being monitored.

The room was sealed with chakra suppression charms. A special one lay across her forehead and covered part of her face. Now he had the perfect specimen to run his experiments. Three decades of research, combining chakra and science. Neither method was perfect, but together…to create perfect shinobis who did not need to perform seals to execute techniques…to create advance bloodlines that can be inherited…not artificial constructs but at the genetic level…

He monitored her brainwaves, why were they so different from Rei's when the embryos started out the same? Why was her chakra level so much higher? What secrets did her mind and body hold? To create shinobi mentalists resistant to mind probes and mind control while being able to attack the enemy's mind directly, that is the ultimate goal, the ultimate army. But of course there must be a limit, they must be programmed, and controlled.

Let's start by removing the ovum…

Double Betrayal

Flashback to 20 years ago:

A pale thin girl, undersized, with dark hair and even darker eyes, tossed restlessly in her bed. She suddenly stopped her movements when she heard her name mentioned.

Rei could hear the raised voices from her parents' room. It was the middle of the night, but she never slept well.

"We have to do this. We're not capable of dealing with a child like that."

"She's our daughter! How can you send her away?"

"It's just for a little while, until you have the baby. You can't deal with her in your condition."

"What do you think they'll do to her?"
"Just a few tests to see why she leaks chakra when she sleeps, why she has seizures. It's just for a little while. She'll be fine. My brother will look after her."

"Your brother…your brother is a madman!"

"What are you talking about? He's a genius!"

Midori started to cry, "…my poor little girl…"

Rei was sent away from her family when she was four. She did not remember them at all. But if shown a picture of them in a crowd, she would have been able to pick out her father, but only because he would be standing next to her mother, who looked like Rei and her sister. She did not remember any feelings of love they may or may not have had for a seriously disturbed child prone to violent seizures. What she did remember was that she had had a family, that she was sent away and isolated, and subjected to tests, often painful ones. She was left at the hospital for years and didn't find out until much later that her parents were dead and never coming to retrieve her.

She remembered when she was finally released and sent on her own to the shinobi academy, how she lived alone. How her classmates and then teammates ignored her. How her genin sensei refused to look her in the eyes. How he always addressed himself to the boys, as if she were not there at all.

Finally that fateful day, the boys were talking about going out to eat and train. She boldly asked to go along. They looked at her, almost fearfully. No one wanted to hang out with a mind seeker. Even though her mental powers in the mind reading aspect were not developed, they were developed enough to feel the fear and loathing emanating from their minds. The same thoughts came from her sensei. No one trusted a mind seeker although it was taboo to go around reading minds indiscriminately, no one believed they would hold fast to such a rule.

Well, to hell with them! Rei thought as her pent up rage finally released itself. Her sensei instinctively felt her murderous intent coming and stepped in front of the other two genin. His folly, he was instantly knocked out and fell into a coma from which it took him months to recover. His mind was so scrambled, he lost his memory of that event and others. He never fully recovered and continued to have nightmares for years. The two boys were not so lucky, or perhaps some would say they were luckier. Rei also unleashed a massive bolt of lightning immediately after her psionic attack. But even that was not enough to curb her rage. She continued to stab the bodies with her kunai even after their demise.

Then it was back to the hospital for more tests. Those years were hazy. Though there were days of clarity, she was drugged during most of it. Then the other came along and the fog from her mind instantly dispersed.

She tasted freedom for the first time in over a decade. She knew it wouldn't last but it was awfully fun pretending to be the other, to see what her life was like. Her adoptive parents were good honest people, very nice, very dull, she could tell in the little time she spent with them.

But then she was forced to return.

Whatever her sister did to her, it made her mind sharper, more focused. I should really thank her for that. Now she could really formulate a plan. Not the like the ad hoc escape and the quick visit to Konoha…

Rei started to learn medical jutsus from her uncle after her return. She applied what she learned from him to the technique Rikako used on her. The other patients had different brainwave patterns than humans. But the trick was theirs were composed of multiple brainwave patterns, which canceled each other at certain points. She had to filter the brainwaves to isolate the human portion and amplify it over the other patterns. While helping the other patients, she did more than rewire some synapses, she made sure that she could control them. She made them promises of freedom and purpose. Once she is secure in her position as Raikage, they could head her army. She just needed to wait for an opportunity.

------************-------

Rei now had her freedom. She had what she's always wanted. That and her sister's life - her position as Raikage. It wasn't fair that the other was born with all the mental advantages. She was even adopted by a nice family. Most orphans found themselves cared for, or not, by the shinobi villages, neglected, or used in experiments. She even got herself a steady guy, weird, but handsome enough in a lackadaisical way. Not that she deserved any of them. She was as cool and controlling as their uncle. She was the type who thought she was smarter than everyone else, that she knew best. Well, guess who's Raikage now!

It was easy fitting in as Raikage. She just delegated tasks as she saw fit and rubberstamped the papers that came across her desk. She altered her own speech to match her sister's more formal speech when she met with the advisors, other staff, and visitors. Rei tried to avoid them at first, especially the advisors, but she couldn't keep canceling meetings. At least her sister had no friends who would detect a change. Except…that Sakai, cute kid, obviously had a crush on her sister. Perhaps she could use that to her advantage.

Only a few people knew about the hospital and even fewer knew about Rei. In order to ensure that her position would be a permanent one, she must erase her own past, anyone who knew her, and any record of her - the hospital staff, the entire hospital, her uncle, her sister, Kakashi - all must be destroyed. There might be a few more who knew of her existence, but she need only address the main ones.

Rei had weakened the chakra dampening seals on one of the cells, set to give out in a few days. She had programmed the patient in the freed cell to release the other patients and kill the staff. Three days after replacing her sister, while she was safe at Hidden Cloud Village, they attacked! But Rei forgot that her sister would also be considered a patient. Instead of killing her as she expected, the most dangerous inmates took her.

------***********-------

Arai escaped. He was the type who's always prepared. As soon as he realized that the patients had been released, he teleported far away using an emergency transfer spell linked to a safehouse. Rei turned on him. Disappointing, but not surprising. He'll get his revenge on her sooner or later. She was the type that would self-destruct. Someone would come to investigate the destruction of the hospital or come to realize she was a fake.

He told the Konoha shinobis some half truths, and enough information on the chimeras to defeat them, but not enough to avoid death for themselves. The two sides will eliminate each other for the most part. Then he'll step in to take care of the rest. Rikako was most likely dead. If not, he could not let her live. If she still lived, he knew she would come after him for revenge.