Improbability

10

Deception

Keika couldn't sleep.

It wasn't like how she normally couldn't sleep, when she awoke in the night from nightmares and sounds of death or when she simply stayed up all night with her back to the wall because she was too afraid to even close her eyes. This time she couldn't sleep because she could hear Hitomi-sensei and Fushidara-nii-san arguing.

They had spent the past, oh, more than twenty four hours at a guess, alternating between running and walking to the East. East was where Kirigakure was, or so Keika had been informed. While taking a short break and letting them walk, Hitomi-sensei had briefly explained the geography of the world and the location of the hidden villages. Keika had already known about the five major powers, and she had known the Kusa wasn't one of them, but that was the extent of her knowledge. Apparently each of the major powers had a hidden village, like Konoha, and the ninja that lived there protected the country and it's daimyo in exchange for land and the right to live there.

Kirigakure was the hidden village for Mizu-no-kuni, which was an island country, with the hidden village located on one big island. But even though Hitomi-sensei's lecture had been an awful lot longer than Keika would have thought, there had been nothing in there about Mizu-no-kuni's history, nothing that would cause her teacher and her big brother to argue like this.

"I cannot believe this mission was assigned to our squad," Fushidara-nii-san hissed, as though he was trying to go unheard by Keika. Because she still had her head tucked into her sleeping bag, she couldn't see their faces to get an accurate read on their emotions. But she could still hear snatches of emotion in their words, and Fushidara-nii-san was betrayed and angry as he spoke, "This is a death mission, you cannot have missed that."

Hitomi-sensei sighed, and it sounded as though she added another log to the fire that they were camped around, "I know. I even outright asked Danzo-sama about it, at no small cost to myself. But there must be a reason why we are on this mission, above the obvious goal of completion. I think that he is trying to… help Keika's emotional growth."

That last phrase was worded quite carefully and with much consideration, and Keika wondered what exactly it meant. But most importantly, what exactly was so suicidal about this mission? Hitomi-sensei said that they were to perform a series of assassinations, so was there an issue with their selected targets? As it the fact that she was on this mission? Surely, she was the weakest member on this team, and she knew it all too well, so perhaps Fushidara-nii-san thought it was too high a rank for her to carry out. But Fushidara-nii-san wasn't that cruel as to call her presence suicidal.

"So that is the reason for the formation of such a strange team?" Fushidara-nii-san asked, slightly skeptical, "But how does putting her and her comrade in constant mortal danger help her emotional state?"

There was a slight pause before Hitomi-sensei replied, her voice saddened, "You and I must keep the two under watch at all times, and I think that Danzo-sama expected we would, thus eliminating some of the risk the two present. But… if the boy gets captured or killed, we have orders to prevent the outrage in Konoha proper. I believe you know what that entails, the boy after all, is without the Caged Bird Seal."

Caged Bird Seal? What was that? It wasn't any sort of seal that Keika had heard of before, and the way they were talking, it seemed as though Mitsuo-san was supposed to have it. Did the seal refer to the one that Danzo-sama had placed on her tongue? No, that couldn't be, because she knew that Mitsuo-san still had his, and the two had not mentioned Keika not having hers, so that seal couldn't be the one they were discussing. And what would they have to do if Mitsuo-san got captured or killed?

"Yes, I understand that full well," Fushidara-nii-san said calmly, letting Hitomi-sensei take command again, "I disagree, but it is not my place to argue with Danzo-sama. If he assigned us this mission, he must have had a very good reason, and I trust his judgment."

Keika closed her eyes shut and curled up into the tiniest ball that she could. She didn't like this, not one bit. She trusted her sensei and knew that Hitomi-sensei was always trying to do what she thought to be right. And Hitomi-sensei completely distrusted Danzo, whom she viewed as a stepping stone for more power, for more respect, or simply as a means of survival. So Keika had assumed that she too should distrust Danzo. But now… Fushidara-nii-san wouldn't do anything that would hurt Keika, in just the same way that she wouldn't do anything that would hurt him.

So he must have good reasons for trusting Danzo-sama.

Hitomi-sensei must have been too rash, it was just like her to be hasty and rude and not completely gather all the facts before acting. Keika should trust Danzo-sama. He must have had his reasons for placing the seal on her, he didn't look like someone who would act without complete confidence in the result of his actions. He did after all, allow Keika to remain in Konoha, allow her to get training as a ninja. And in the end, the food that she ate, the clothes on her back, the room that she stayed in, all of it was thanks to Danzo-sama.

Keika too would trust Danzo-sama, if for no reason other than her big brother did the same.

Fushidara-nii-san, I'm sorry I ever doubted you.

Danzo observed the list with a calm gaze, smirking slightly as he thought about the implications behind the names given. The mission request from Kirigakure had been from a former ally of his, perhaps not the most important of shinobi at the moment, but she showed a bit of promise, so Danzo was content to exploit what few shared goals they had to his advantage. When he first received the request for aide, he had almost thrown it aside, simply because the chance of success was zero with the forces that he had.

Unfortunately, he always presented himself as far more powerful than he actually was on the rare occasions that he met up with his old ally. It was convenient for her to believe that his forces held the strength of an entire hidden village, but in this case she overestimated him. He knew that the team he sent out on this mission would fail. That didn't matter too much, because it was a perfect time for him to test the new weapon he had, the child Kamiko. And with the designated team, it was the perfect way for him to rid her of any last emotional inhabitations that would hinder her ability to be efficient and ruthless. He could not have his latest weapon be flawed in any way, that would simply be inexcusable for him.

He had to admit, so far she had performed below his expectations, without showing the genius in both battle and tactics that he had hoped for. Oh, she was intelligent all right, that much he could confirm from Hitomi's usual reports, but basic intelligence wasn't something that was acceptable. She could perform well enough in training, and held a record for instant jutsu mastery that was only exceeded by a few, but she tended to fall apart in actual combat. That was explainable by her unique doujutsu. With an eye capable of the most severe emotional reading, it was easy enough to understand why she would have qualms killing or seeing others in pain. And she was still only a child, so it was irrational to expect too much out of her.

But Danzo did not want a weapon that was flawed. A genius that only functioned to such standards when not in battle held no use for him, and if she continued to show that, then there would be nothing left that would make her useful. If she failed what he expected of her, then he would rip out her eyes and throw away the useless body they were connected to.

Eyes like that would be very interesting to experiment on, and Danzo did happen to have an old ally that would be very interested in her eyes. But that extreme would only be taken if Kamiko failed to destroy her emotional limitations. Danzo wouldn't even have to be there in Kiri, or do anything at the time, if things went to plan, she would destroy herself.

Now all that was left was to set up the circumstances perfectly.

The mission requested three assassinations be performed. At first, Danzo had thought that it would be best to only take the first two, placing Kamiko and that jonin on a team for the first one, and Hitomi and the chunin on a team for the second. But the more that he thought about it, there would be no need for him to go so far out of his way to perfect the situation when it had already been perfected. With only a few orders, everything would go exactly how he wanted it.

The first assassination was of a chunin, one without any special skills except for the fact that the man was a heavy supporter of the purist faction. He was vicious and blood thirsty on raids and in battle. The purist faction… Hm… that would be the perfect task for the chunin boy and Kamiko to perform. If things went to plan, the boy would be killed in battle, leaving his opponent weakened and Kamiko alone to fight and seek vengeance for her dead friend. That was all easy enough to arrange, all he had to do would be give more specific orders for the placement and formation of teams.

The second assassination was of a jonin, again not a very important one. Hitomi could wipe the man out easily, and so it made logical sense to place her on that mission. There was no issue with Hitomi at the moment, and so it wasn't very reasonable for Danzo to mess around too much in her relationship with Kamiko when there currently were no problems to fix.

However, the jonin on their team, Junichi, he was a problem. His relationship with Kamiko was too close for Danzo's liking, and Kamiko looked up to him far too much. Besides, he was the perfect target. If he were to die tragically, it would do wonders for removing Kamiko's emotions.

Therefore… Danzo's finger stopped on the third name on the list.

Junichi would perform the third assassination, the one that was doomed to fail. Even though he was a jonin, even though he was a member of Root, there was simply no way that Junichi could kill Yagura.

Especially once Danzo chose to inform the Mizukage of the mission.

They had been running for two days straight, Hitomi-sensei apparently in a hurry to get to wherever they were going. Yesterday, the four of them had boarded a tiny boat that had dropped them off somewhere covered in mist and surrounded by water.

Hitomi-sensei held up a hand and the other three stopped where they were, "We've arrived at the destination," she said quietly, "Just ahead is the building where the rebel faction has made their base. We are to make contact in just a moment. Before we enter, there are a few… precautions we have to take." She glanced up at Keika and Mitsuo-san with nothing short of complete fear in her eyes, "Kirigakure is in the middle of civil war. This makes it very difficult to enter under normal circumstances as it is…"

"So what is the problem?" Mitsuo-san asked, his wide white eyes reflecting the fear that he too felt. There was something wrong with this mission, there had to be. Nothing else could make Hitomi-sensei so very afraid. Not afraid for herself, no, she was afraid for all of them.

"There is a… bloodline purge," Hitomi-sensei said reluctantly, "Mitsuo-san, I need you to perform a henge to change your appearance. Kamiko… I will place a genjutsu over you enough to change your eyes."

Mitsuo-san nodded seriously and held up a single hand sign. There was a flare of chakra, and then he still looked exactly the same to Keika. She assumed that he must have changed his appearance, or done something to get rid of his obvious doujutsu eyes. What exactly did bloodline purge mean? Did it mean that all those with kekkei genaki were being kicked out of the country, or placed under custody, or removed from active service? Keika had a most horrible feeling that it meant they were murdering them.

What were they doing here? With a team that held two kekkei genaki users? In a country killing off bloodline traits? This mission really was suicide, and now the argument that she overheard a few days ago made sense, clear and perfect sense that made Keika nervous and shaky. She didn't want to get killed. That was something silly to say, because she supposed that no one did. It didn't make it any less true. Keika didn't want to get killed. She had promised Itachi that she would help him get rid of war. She couldn't do that if she was dead.

There was a flare of Hitomi-sensei's chakra that flickered for a moment before settling over Keika's face like an invisible cloak of intangible fabric. Just because she could not see genjutsu did not mean that Keika couldn't feel the physical chakra on her own skin. She disliked the feeling, "Wont they be able to tell that I'm wearing a genjutsu?" she asked her teacher.

Hitomi-sensei bit her lip so hard that a trickle of blood rolled down her lip, and Keika immediately regretted asking because of the pain that it caused her teacher to answer, "I don't know. If our allies are powerful, then they will notice indeed, and we can only hope that they don't ask. In battle… it won't matter."

The unspoken 'if we get caught we're dead either way' hung heavy in the air.

Hitomi-sensei sighed and turned to face another stretch of forest, a thick blanket of mist that seemed so tangible that it would be impossible to even set foot inside it. Perhaps it was really a physical barrier. After all, Keika had no idea of what Kiri ninja were capable of, and a physical barrier or mist would be both a helpful deterrent for those looking for the base, and also enough to steer away those who didn't know that it was there. No one was going to question a cloud of mist in a land that never was free of cloud cover. "We're going," Hitomi-sensei said with the same resigned tone.

And with that, she took a step into the mist, Fushidara-nii-san right behind her. Mitsuo-san and Keika hurried to catch up, trying to find their way in the mist. The mist proved to be as thick as she had originally thought, and even though she was less than a foot away from each of her companions, all she could see of them were blurry outlines. And she knew that it wasn't a genjutsu, or else she would be able to see through it, so it had to be ninjutsu. There was ninjutsu out there this powerful? Was it powered by multiple mist ninja or one very strong one? Either way, she was glad that they were going to be working for them, not against them. Although she wondered who would be strong enough to cause enough trouble for someone this strong that it would require outside help. On second thought, perhaps the safer bet would be on the other side. And for that matter, she still wasn't sure which side they were assisting, the one attempting the bloodline purge, or the one opposing it.

"Stay close together," Hitomi-sensei said firmly as she navigated the mist, "I can sense that there are other shinobi patrolling this area. Get separated, and not only will you not find your way back, but the shinobi will most likely mistake you for an enemy spy and kill you on the spot."

Keika stepped closer to Fushidara-nii-san and tried to sense the other ninja around. It was no use. Either she really was that pathetic of a chakra sensor, of this mist did more than just cover up physical objects. When she tried, she could barely sense the chakra signatures of her teammates, even though she had memorized their chakra signatures and could normally pick them up in a crowd of others with ease. If it was capable of hiding chakra signatures, then this mist cover jutsu could most likely double as a very effective technique for assassinations.

Fushidara-nii-san held her hand, his warm skin a comfort in the cold and wet mist. Keika allowed some of her stress to vanish as she tightened her grip on his hand. That was right, she could and would face down any ninja if it was for the same of her big brother. For Fushidara-nii-san's sake, there was nothing that she wouldn't do.

The four of them walked in tense and nervous silence for a while, blindly navigating in the mist. Then apparently the observing shinobi decided that it was time to do something.

The mist around them was suddenly swept away, leaving a small clearing in which the four of them stood. Keika could now see her comrades with ease, but outside of the small circle of clear, things were still as shrouded in mist as ever. She took a step closer to Fushidara-nii-san. Even she, the youngest and least experienced in the group could tell that something major was about to happen.

Then four ninja dropped down onto the grass in front of them.

Three stood behind the fourth like fearsome bodyguards, and Keika instinctively took a step back. She didn't want to get on the bad side of these people.

The one farthest to the left was a woman, long dark red hair and a pin-striped long sleeved shirt with a black obi. She had Kiri hitai-ate tied to her forehead, bandages wrapped around her neck, and her blood-thirsty grin revealed sharp and pointy teeth. Two long thin blades were strapped to her back. The second figure was a small boy, very young and thin with short blue hair and square-rimmed glasses. On his back was a large sword, easily the same size as the boy, flat and wrapped up in bandages with two handles protruding from the top. To Keika's growing curiosity, he also had the same pointy teeth as the woman.

The tallest in the group was a man, dark skinned and muscular, dressed only in pants and arm warmers, with a thick strap across his chest. He had short dark hair, and his mouth was covered in bandages, his Kiri forehead protector tilted to the side. On his back was a huge blade, long and sharp, with a single hole in it and a semi-circular section removed.

In the front of the group was a woman, one that quite intrigued Keika. She wore a blue dress and had long and spiky orange hair. But her eyes held the most piercing confidence, and she simply had this look that conveyed 'piss me off and you will die'. But if she killed you, Keika was pretty sure that she would be smiling at the same time the blood was spilled. She was the only one who didn't wear a forehead protector, but it was in the same way that Danzo-sama didn't wear a Konoha hitai-ate. She was so high ranked that she didn't need to. Everyone already knew what side she was on and there was no need for her to declare it.

Hitomi-sensei held up a scroll, her face not betraying any of the calm panic that she was feeling, "We are the shinobi you sent for. Danzo-sama instructed us to come here. This is the mission scroll, as well as photo IDs that will confirm we are who we say we are," she said diplomatically, taking a step forward before placing the scroll on the ground and backing away.

The leader of the other ninja, the orange-haired woman, walked forward and picked up the scroll casually, even though her eyes showed extreme caution in her simplest of actions. No one really acted how they thought here, Keika noticed. The woman quickly scanned the scroll and was still reading it over when she said casually, "And if you would please remove the genjutsu, that would be most appreciated."

Hitomi-sensei sighed and held up her hands, "Unfortunately I cannot. Our two youngest are against the current regime in Kirigakure for the same reason that you yourself are, and showing the true appearance of them would be a great risk to the mission and their lives. Pleas trust me when I say that the only changes made were to their eyes." She was playing on thin ice, because if that woman decided that she didn't believe her, things would go to hell in a hen basket very quickly.

The woman simply raised an eyebrow and rolled up the scroll, while a thousand different emotions flickered over her eyes. There was a moment to distrust followed by a moment of belief and then understanding and then resentment and then resignation and then acceptance finally settled over her face. It was making Keika a bit light headed following all her emotions at once while still trying to keep her doujutsu trained on the three bodyguards while making sure that there weren't any other ninja in the area about to sneak up behind them and kill them. Some days Keika really hated her eyes.

"I see," the woman said simply, tossing the scroll back to Hitomi-sensei who caught it with ease, "In that case, I welcome you to our main base of operations. I am Terumi Mei, and these are the three members of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū that we have managed to get on our side, Ringo, Chojuro, and Zabuza. Pleasure to meet you all."

The three swordsmen bowed, with much reluctance. Mei gave Hitomi-sensei a look, "And to know your names would be fabulous as well."

Hitomi-sensei nodded her head and said diplomatically, "I am Hitomi, this is Junichi, a jonin, Mitsuo, a chunin, and Kamiko, a genin. I am the squad leader for this mission."

"A genin?" Mei questioned with a frown, her eyes immediately darting to Keika with confusion and distrust in her eyes. Not as though she distrusted Keika, but more like she wasn't sure why Keika was here or what hidden powers she possessed. Keika looked away from her eyes because the flow of emotions was too much. In a sick and morbid way, she missed the lack of emotion that was ever present at the Root base. It was easier for her to deal with.

Mei smiled slyly as she regarded Keika, "Must be one hell of a gekkei genkai. I look forward to seeing it in action," her eyes flickered up to Hitomi-sensei as she said, "Please follow me, I will show you to our base where I will brief you on the details of your mission."

As they were led away into the mist, Keika was only sure of one thing. She had gained Terumi Mei's attention, and she wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"These are the latest blood samples, as well as her most recent physical exam reports," Danzo said casually as he handed over the extremely classified information without a thought. He trusted this man, at least enough to get the required job done.

The man chuckled, "Well well, you've really picked up something special here, haven't you? Where ever did you find such a kekkei genkai?"

"Some village in Kusa," Danzo replied, "She wasn't undergoing any official shinobi training, but one of my men happened to be in the area and happened to become interested in the child's unusual abilities. My good luck, it would seem. I also want you to find out as much as you can about her family tree. It would be very intriguing if she turned out to be related to the Uchiha or the Hyuuga."

The man looked up from the reports and remarked coldly, "What a fascinating mix of genetics that would be. And easier to re-create. I admit, I am rather disappointed that I wasn't the one to make that breakthrough."

Danzo paused and narrowed his gaze, "However, the girl is my shinobi now. I want you to create a perfect panel of bio-identical drugs to increase her mental capacity as well as her physical performance and chakra levels. What I standardly use is not getting the results I want. Any information that you may need for this project is at your disposal, anything short of you actually experimenting on the girl herself."

"Don't you trust my methods?" the man asked.

"Not when I don't want the subject harmed, I don't," Danzo retorted smoothly, "Besides, she is still a child and I want to make sure that her mental state is perfect before I send her on more high-priority missions. Any of your experiments could ruin that."

The man gave a resigned shrug and dropped the subject, "Shame. I could have gotten the best of results in only a few minutes you know," at Danzo's glare, he changed his topic, "The drugs should be ready in a few days, this sort of thing is as easy as it is fun. And in return?"

"I'll let you try out your drugs on my little faux-Uchiha," Danzo confirmed, "Do your job well and I'll do mine, Orochimaru."