AC: Strath here again with a new update. This one took as long as it did not because I didnt work on it but because I worked on it TOO much. I honestly was not satisfied with how to end it in just the right way and I still am not but I had been writting and writting and making the chapter much longer with much more content then I had originaly intended so I cut it out for the next chapter.
As always Comment and Review, it keeps me sane to keep my level.
A heavy rain had set in over the small trade village of Tenuto as if nature it self was mourning the atrocities that had been committed this day as a population of one hundred and thirty six residence was drastically reduced to that of seventy four and diminishing as victims gave in to to their wounds or voluntarily ended their own life's due to the mayhem and the tragedy it had brought. One such survivor contemplated such an out come for her self before mentally dashing the image away. She now had things to settle before she would once again welcome deaths bitter sweet embrace.
Tayuya lay perfectly still in her hospital bed now being the soul occupant due to the previous one dying from internal damage. She fought the effects of the sedatives the nurses had fed into her IV and chose to stay awake, she needed to stay awake for when he would open the door. It was ironic that after spending so many days and nights wishing to kill a single person almost more then any other not she spent her time waiting for the chance to talk. And so as she waited she filtered out the cries and tears that echoed throughout each floor over the over crowed clinic and transfixed her attention to the rains soft pitter patter against her window as the downfall continued with out rest.
"Do you even know what you are saying?!" The sole Yamanaka daughter screamed at her chunin partner as they both stood in the rain completely drenched. It was the only place he felt comfortable to explain the situation to her. "We cant let her live!"
"Chouji wouldn't want this though." Shikamaru tried to reason to Ino who was now boarder line hysterical.
"I want this!" She screamed silencing both the Nara and her self for a moment from the seer utterance of her words.
"I-Ino listen to your self, do you really think Chouji would be happy to hear you talking this way?"
"Don't you dare use his name to make me feel guilty when because of you he died in the first place!" the moment her words left her mouth Ino had regretted it as her teammates face convulsed into pain as if she had just punched right into his heart "O-ohh god Shikamaru I-I didn't me..."
"What didn't you mean Ino, that I got my best friend killed by my own damn order!" Despite the rain masking the two she knew he was crying. No one cared more for Chouji then Shikamaru had so it was no surprise his death shook him to the core. "I got him killed Ino, I left him there to be beaten so badly he needed to rely on those fucking pills and die!" His voice shook as he screamed in the memory of Chouji's dying face. "If you really want to kill Chouji's killer then kill me!"
"Stop it!" Ino screamed loudly as her right hand slapped the young Nara across the face leaving her hands outline imprinted on her reddened cheek. "Just...stop it Shikamaru..." She stared at her numb hand unable to bare eye contact with him any longer.
Surprised Shikamaru rubbed his face and lip slowly to see blood caused from bitting his lip due to the slap on his own hand.
"Then kill me Ino...I'm the one to blame." He spoke in a monotone voice unable to look at his teammate.
"We cant let her go...shes dangerous." Ino changed topics unable to speak with him any longer on her killing him. That simply was an impossibility to her, she could never hate him enough.
"...She saved a lot of villagers by stopping many of the intruders." Shikamaru responded in a hollow voice seeing that Ino couldn't handle his current statements any longer.
"That just proves she is still dangerous, she can still kill people." Ino stated coldly to which Shikamaru could not deny after witnessing the brutal devastation she was still capable of. "Regardless of anything else she is still ninja of Orochimaru, letting her go would be treason against the Leaf."
"She said she wasn't during our fight out side town and I believe her." Shikamaru defended the red head with as much conviction as he could muster.
"You cant trust her either way!" Ino shouted before fixating her gaze onto the ground masking her tears with that of the rain.
"Ino?" His voice evident with concern as Shikamaru reached to her shoulder only for her to turn away suddenly.
"Do what you want Shikamaru, I wont stop you any more." Shikamaru watched as she walked down the battered streets to join surviving villagers. "When Leaf enforcements arrive I wont mention her."
With nothing left to say between the once close teammates the young Nara reluctantly made his way to confront his former nemesis. However given his current state of mind it would take him awhile to compose his thoughts clearly.
Tayuya's lifeless eyes strayed around the small dark room constantly fixating on and off the door. Both her ears perked when she heard some one turn the nob and heard the click of the lock remove. Sometimes she hated her enhanced senses but other times they were a blessing.
"I was starting to wonder if you would show." She said with a neutral voice as her long awaited guest entered and sat on a chair positioned in front of her. She could see the wariness evident in his eyes and faction features. "You look like shit." She stated for good measure as he stared at her almost oblivious.
"Your one to talk, nurses said you looked half dead." Shikamaru countered back after inspecting the girls appearance. She had lost her normally loud spirit and her complexion had drained extreamly.
"Any news on the bastards who did this?" Tayuya asked bluntly.
"Nothing new besides what we already know, Konoha reinforcements are to arrive with in the hour and they will begin a full investigation." She nodded softly to this information, it was not at all unexpected.
"...And what about me?" Her gaze transfixed to the window away from the chunin.
"You defended the village, I wont mention you to them." She turned to face him with slight shock.
"Don't be foolish, we both know what needs to be done." Her voice was cold and dark to his ears. "I don't have anything left to live for in this village, those bastards slaughtered the only real family I ever had and I am well aware I can not exact vengeance for them in my current condition so just...end it." All the hostility the red head was once exuberant with had been washed away like blood down the storm drains of the streets of the once peaceful village she lived in. Shikamaru could no longer feel the venom she had once harbored for him so strongly.
"...You know that young girl was asking for you once she woke up right?" Shikamaru stated surprising the red head. "Her family has been confirmed dead so she is going to be placed in an orphanage for adoption."
"She doesn't deserve that kind of life!" Tayuya objected suddenly as her medical monitor flared in a series as beeps.
"Then adopt her." Shikamaru suggested causing the girl to stare at him in shock.
"A-adopt her...no, my hands are stained with far to much blood for such a lofty idea as that." Her head lowered in memory of the children she had murdered during her missions.
"I wont pretend I know the things you have done until this point but there isn't anyone in this village she wants to care for her as much as you." Shikamaru admitted to her truthfully. If he didn't trust her with the child completely he would have never had suggested the idea. "Just think about it at least, might do the both of you some good." He rose from his seat and made his way to the door, it was too uncomfortable to stay in the same room calmly with an enemy he had almost killed with his bare hands.
"...Hey wait." Her voice hesitant as she called out to him causing him to regard her with a confused look. "I thought you might want to talk about that mission." Her voice uneven as she suggested the idea.
"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru inquired already knowing full well she was referring to the retrieval mission but not her reasons to bring it up.
"I can see it festering inside your mind, I figured you would want to get it off your chest once and for all." Tayuya stated with an even voice, not exactly the sound of sympathy but then again sympathy wasn't one of her strong suits from living a life of self enclosure and isolation from others.
"Do you even care?" Shikamaru responded with anger apparent in his voice as he expected the red haired girl to take shots at him as his teammate had done earlier.
"I don't know what I care about anymore." Was her simple and honest response that caused the chunin to sigh and take his seat in front of her bed once again though with clearly more frustration apparent on his face.
"That mission...was a complete failure." Shikamaru stated with a heavier sigh before dredging up that day in complete clarity in his mind. "As I told you before our battle before it was my first mission as a chunin and I had complete trust in my subordinates as I thought a leader should. It was meant to be a simple task as finding Sasuke and bringing him back but instead it turned into a blood bath." The atmosphere in the small clinic room grew heavy as the young Nara's voice constantly fluctuated in uneven tones. For the former Sound nins credit she simply stared and listened as he explained. It was ironic she noted that their outlook on both their missions were the same. It was to be a simple grab and retreat. Things she knew were never that lucky or simple.
"Not only didn't we bring Sasuke back but we lost four people along the way, they lost their lives for what?!" Shikamaru shouted suddenly in anger. "Neji, Akamaru, Lee and my best friend Chouji died for the sake of Sasuke and what did he do when we had finally fought through everything and reach him...he turned his back on us and put Naruto into a coma before willingly walking into Orochimaru's hands." Tayuya could tell he was preventing him self from crying now. It was a truly pathetic sight to see a shinobi so weak but the memory of her mourning the two elderly guardians earlier today stopped her from scolding the chunin for his lack of discipline. Shinobi in nature were not suppose to show or have feelings, such things always complicated things and lead to their deaths.
"You look like you want to say something?" His dull hollow sounding voice snapped her from her contemplation of the fate of shinobi's.
"It isn't my place to say any more." Was Tayuya's soft response as she allowed her self to relax enough to feel the cool misty breeze blow over skin cooling her from the stuffiness of the hospital room.
"You must have some criticism for me?" Shikamaru joked in an empty tone.
"I didn't ask if you wanted to talk just so I could criticize and belittle you, I am not so petty to ask to take cheap shots when I already know you have taken them at yourself." Her voice stern and harsh but despite that Shikamaru could not take offense. Deep down he had wanted her to belittle him for his mistakes as she had long ago that day. He was arrogant and she was right, thats all it came down too.
"Yeah I guess I have after all this time." For a moment silence set in between the two teens before Shikamaru forced himself to speak. "You know me and my teammate Ino came here to find flowers for my friend Chouji's grave, finding you here was the last thing I expected." The chunin leaned forward towards her bed, sensing this Tayuya turned her self away from the window to meet him before changing her gaze to that of the ceiling once more. She already knew where the topic was headed and let out a soft sigh as she stared into the plan nothingness of the tiles.
"After you and that bitch left me to rot in the forest I crawled my way here in search of medicine, fuck knows my wounds were becoming infected due to both of your shitty incompetent medical work on me so I raided a few houses to find nothing but poor ass people and that blind girl Chinosei." Tayuya took a moment to compose herself as she vividly remembered the pain her body was in and how desperately she clang to the false hope of life as she scrounged like a rat in a garbage can for medical supplies in their homes. "It wasn't long after that I broke into the geez...the Takahashi's house when my wounds had opened up and I surcame to fever and passed out bleeding on their floor like a gutted pig." Her voice Shikamaru noted was now filled with the bile and anger he had always known her for.
"But instead of leaving me to die even though I treated to kill them they treated me and kept me alive so when they were asleep I spared them their lives even though they saw my face and I left to return to Orochimaru's side." Her eyes closed as she remembered the soul shattering events that followed.
"Your not with him now so what happened?" Shikamaru spoke up forcing her to speak her mental thoughts.
"My master didn't want me thats what happened." Tayuya responded with an intense glare to the chunin before her eyes softened slightly and refocused her gave to the ceiling. "A broken shinobi is like a broken weapon...their completely useless and need to be discarded immediately before you regret relying on them in the battlefield."
"I thought that Kabuto guy was an expert medic, couldn't he have fixed your leg and wounds?" Shikamaru pointed out after remembering Kabuto's infamous medic abilities.
"You don't understand anything do you?" Tayuya snapped while facing him once more. "I failed my mission even though that faggot made his way to Orochimaru and besides all of that the bitch took what was most precious to me...she took my pride as one of Oto's elite and my master could see it just from looking at me!" She paused lowering her head in disgrace. "So he left me there to rot and I..and I..." Tayuya began to trail off as she place her left hand against her forehead and face as it was obscured by her unkept hair. "I at least tried to dignify my self with a dignified death but those old fools wouldn't let me and now I have to suffer for their deaths." Her harsh voice trailed off in memory of the only people she could call a family with pride in her voice.
"I cant picture you as the type." Shikamaru stated bluntly earning her brown eyes to fixate on him. "But I only know you from battle I guess." He scratched his pony tail lightly as he reclined back into his chair.
"You should go, your stupid teammate is probably waiting for you with the flowers." Tayuya stated as she turned away and stared out the window o the still falling rain. She heard his chair creek back as he rose from it followed by the soft foot steps to the door.
"You gonna be okay ?" He forced himself to ask as he stood at the door gripping the nob.
"Why would you even care rat?" Her voice stern as she called back to him.
"It would be a waste if you died is all." He grinned slightly as he looked back at her. "We should play Shoji sometime, I always wondered how good you would be in it."
"Bakka trash." Tayuya muffled into her pillow as she wished for sleep to remove the pent up stress of her body.
Upon hearing the muffled insult Shikamaru turned the nob only for it to become stuck as someone turned it the other way. Seeing this the chunin let it go as the Anbu on the other side opened the door and gave a slight bow to the chunin.
"Nara Shikamaru, Higato Karashi of the third black ops division reporting in from Konoha!" He stated in a stoic military tone behind his clay bird mask causing the chunin to simply nod as he took a glance behind himself to see if the red head had jumped at the introduction. He was relieved to see her body had not even flinched to draw suspicion.
"Its good your here, this village has been badly damaged by the attack." The understatement was obvious to both Leaf nins.
"Correct, we have already gone over the incident with Yamanaka Ino and have identified the culprits responsible as the Crimson Skulls. An investigation will commence on this matter however we will still need your testimony on the events right away." The masked Anbu directed his right arm down the hallway signaling for the chunin to exit.
"If it is all right can you debrief me here?" Shikamaru offered suddenly confusing the Anbu as well as the red head who pretended to be asleep as she was over hearing the entire conversation.
"It would be best to conduct the inquiry in a private location." Karashi stated in a not so condoning manner.
"I understand but I promised I would watch over this girl in case she attempted to harm her self, the clinic simply does not have enough staff to make sure she remains in a safe state of mind, on top of that she is currently asleep so if there is any chance I could be debriefed here it would be greatly appreciated." Shikamaru offered hoping the Anbu would buy the fake story and take the bait.
" What is that bastard trying to pull?!" Tayuya inwardly thought as she continued to fain sleeping in the shinobi's presence.
"As you wish then, miss Ino has already stated for the record that you had saved one of the towns civilians from the attack. I will make my inquiry as quick as possible." The Anbu conceded.
" So much for not mentioning her Ino..." Shikamaru noted painfully as he knew Konoha intelligence were prone to backtracking information given to them. "If they find something suspicious in the report they would eventually find the her out."
"We just need to confirm that the intruders identified them selfs as the Crimson Skulls." The Anbu stated drawing Shikamaru from his thoughts.
"Yes thats is correct, both a member and a man calling himself Dokumaru who seemed to be one of the ringleaders proclaimed that when confronted, is Konoha planning to hunt them down?" Shikamaru knew he was pushing his luck with that last part as it wasn't his place to request that sort of information but then again it would simply be taken as curiosity on his part by the Anbu and not as digging for mission related information.
"That is a negative, we were informed by upper ANBU branches not to pursue those individuals however we will provide aid to this village and its residence." Shikamaru blinked in surprise of this information. It didn't make sense to not go after the murderers.
"I more then understand aiding the village but why aren't we going after the bastards who did this?" Shikamaru protested verbally earning him a stern stare behind the mask.
"Orders are orders, we will investigate the matter of who had hired them. This inquiry is concluded Shikamaru." Karashi broke off conversation as he headed down the hall to exit the building.
Waiting to make sure the pest was gone Tayuya called out the the black haired chunin. "Get in here and shut the door." She whispered aloud just enough for Shikamaru to catch her. He did as he was told and she shifted her self off the bed facing the chunin in an upright position.
"What the fuck was that all about?!" She demanded trying to keep her voice down despite her anger.
"I felt you would want to hear it your self instead of being left in the dark or having to take my word on it." Shikamaru exclaimed in a low voice to the frustrated red head.
"I mean why are they not going after those fuckers...this whole affair is shady as hell!"
"Glad I am not the only one who thinks so, despite the vicious attack the property damage is significantly low in the business area of town compared to the residential area. Its almost like they pin pointed targets and masked the fact by attacking the whole town." Shikamaru stated to the red head as he placed the pieces that had been bugging him together.
"Makes fucking sense, I found that Dokumaru faggot near the rich side of town overlooking the carnage when he could have been attacking the mayors residents. If this whole shit is a cover up for something then the only person with enough blood money to hire a pack of mercenaries would be the mayor of this shit hole!" She had risen from her bed and took hold of a crutch provided to her by the staff as she made her way to the door before the chunin stood up to stand in her way.
"You cant be serious to leave in your condition." Shikamaru stated with certainty as he blocked the exit with his arm.
"If that bastard had anything to do with this attack I am going to personally kill him before he bribes his way out of it!" To prove her conviction Tayuya smacked the end of the crutch against his right knee forcing Shikamaru to stumble slightly as she quickly passed by him only to have her right wrist grabbed as she attempted to close the door behind her.
"Geeze are you always this damn troublesome and violent?" Tayuya ignored the sarcastic question as she yanked her arm out of his grip and continue on her quest of vengeance before he attempted once again to stop her only this time sensing his reach violate her personal space Tayuya carefully swirled around and gripped his wrist slamming it against the still open door forcing a painful grunt to escape his lips.
"If you get in my way again your my target too rat!" Her harsh voice warned as she stared him down only to be surprised by the seriousness in his eyes.
"And if you keep being a stubborn woman your going to die before you even reach the streets!" Shikamaru declared as he pointed with his free hand to the bloody bandages that marred her right leg. "Your just going to reopen all your wounds!"
Irritatedly the red head stared at her limp leg with hatred as she remembered how pushing her self nearly cost her her life when she raided the village for medical supplies which only caused her to pass out from blood loss. It infuriated her that she could not push her self to gain better results like her old days in Sound because no matter how hard she willed it and trained her leg would never become usable and would remain a liability. Besides that her body felt like complete shit after the days horrific events.
"I wont just sit here and do nothing!" Tayuya suddenly spook up as she still transfixed her gaze on her leg.
"Then recover while I look into it." Her face rose to meet the chunin with slight bewilderment apparent in her features.
"Why, what do you care about this village?" She heard her self ask him as she lessoned the grip on his wrist.
"Its troublesome but...its the right thing for me to do given everything that has happened." Her hand released his wrist after hesitation to his words. With out making eye contact Tayuya limped to her bed and stopped before it.
"Why did you risk your own skin to save me from the arrow attack?" Tayuya asked surprising the chunin who at the moment did not utter a response. "I would have been dead with no blood on your own hands so why when there was nothing you would gain?"
Shikamaru entered the room closing the door behind him with a small click that caused a twitch in the girls stature as she looked away from him. She could hear him take two deep breaths in the other wise complete silence of the room.
"During the attack on Konoha during the chunin exams I was content to do nothing while everyone else risked their lives trying to preserve the village. I didn't think of it as cowardice on my part since I wasn't particularly afraid to die...no I was just a lazy bastard who thought it'd be too much trouble to help out so I left it to everyone else but I ended up being found out and forced to help out anywhere and ended up as being the person left behind to take on all of the enemy ninja who followed us. In short a suicide mission which was perfect for me since I was always the one who was best at running away in life." Tayuya turned to face the chunin who's facial feature were completely unreadable even to her keen eyes.
"What changed?" She asked as her brown eyes met his black eyes.
"I watched my teammates die one by one after the failed retrieval mission...some were dead before they even reached Konoha so it was then I realized how important each life was...how irreplaceable each person is in this world even if..." His voice sombered up into a sad sounding chuckle. "Even if that life belongs to a foul mouthed woman like you...its still irreplaceable."
She couldn't comment on his words Tayuya realized as she tried to find the correct words to speak back but found none. Her life never really mattered to her even after becoming one of Oto's prized shinobi. Her fate was that of a weapon and eventually all weapons blades become dull over time and need to be replaced. Her life of servitude was one of the coldest of realities but it was a reality none the less she understood and was committed to. The simple desire to be needed, that she mattered to someone even if only temporary was enough for her to commit to, that is why she joined Sound and why this simple yet complex girl turned from deaths bitter sweet embrace and joined the old couple as a family.
"I.." Her voice finally broke the silence that had set in between the two teens. "..Am irreplaceable to you Nara?" The confusion in her voice matched the confusion in the males face to the question as his eyes widened in surprise.
"Y-yeah I guess you are." Shikamaru responded as he fumbled on his words before he made his way to the window by her bed and opened it allowing a quick breeze of rain to blow in marring the soft fabric of her sheets. "If the mayor is involved I will make sure he is brought to justice so just recover." He stated quickly before jumping out the window and racing along the roofs to the mayor's residents confused over the words he had just said to her. Tayuya simply stood bewildered staring out the window as wind and rain whipped her face and blew her long hair back as she watched him fade into the distance before grabbing the windowsill and shutting it tightly as the rain drops splashed against the glass inches away from her confused face.
"Bakka." A soft whisper left her lips and fogged the glass before she turned away to slowly place her self on the bed leaving her crutch with in arms distance as her head rested upon the pillow as she transfixed her gaze to the soft pitter patter of rain drops against the window before she flung her pillow against the glass then stared at her ceiling confused by the thoughts and feelings that now plagued her mind.
Shikamaru raced to the mayors residents as he back tracked his way down the broken alley ways he had once to use follow the red head out of town only this time he had minor divination to his course as he raced to the easy to spot manor in the north of the village that over looked the town. The rain whipped across his face leaving a numbing effect as his lungs slowly took in the charred embers of the burnt wood that was blown by the wind. He noticed survivors removing wreckage from the streets and their homes and the small glimpses of Konoha shinobi aiding villagers.
For the moment however Shikamaru preferred to go unnoticed as he neared the estate and lunged over its high walls and stiff security detail as he landed near one of the main floors windows to glance at a heavy set, well dressed man pace back and forth as he conversed with a shady looking figures across the living room. Their conversation however remained a staggered blur of shouts and what Shikamaru could only assume were whispers. Lucky however the ninja academy had taken time to teach their students lip syncing, unlucky was the fact Shikamaru had slept through mostly all of the classes.
"I'm going to need to get closer huh." Sighing greatly the chunin hopped onto the roof of the estate then down to a small window ledge to an attic. Gripping the bottom of the window the chunin found it to be completely locked down.
"Typical." Nara sighed as he stood upon the ledge soaked from the still pouring rain. "I should be able to open it with my shadow possession jutsu but its going to be really troublesome during night." He huffed aloud as he readily preformed the necessary hand signs and watched as a small slither of his shadow barely take form in the lightless sky then forcefully controlled it to slip under the window frame to try and unlock it from inside. After much effort the small shadow had unlatched the windows lock before dissipating completely from lack of light.
Careful to open the window slowly the young Nara ducked into the musky air of the attic which was filled with a large assortment of crates and paintings as well as other highly priced commodities people only buy to just have. Cautiously he crept upon the floor boards as not not make a sound to give his position away. Once he estimated his location to be above the living room where the mayor was hopefully still located he removed the floor boards to enter an extremely cramp crawlspace under the frame work of the two floors where he could over hear the conversation down below.
"Did you dispatch the clean up team Gapachi?" Shikamaru heard a deep voiced man ask as he listened above the ceiling.
"Of course master Kato, Ritsuki should be more then capable of cleaning the extra trash from your town." A gruff sounding man answered. "He must be talking to the mayor of the village." Shikamaru answered himself.
"Its extra work but we need to clean up the trash the Crimson Skull's missed." The gruff sounding man continued to Shikamaru's dismay as the puzzle began to complete in his mind but what followed only left dread in his heart. "Ritsuki should already have killed the piper girl from town by now then he will dispose of the two Leaf nins who arrived today."
" W-what, they sent assassins out to murder the witnesses?!" Shikamaru's mind raced as he with drew his kunai and quickly yet carefully drilled a small hole into the floor so he could overlook the conversation with his own eyes. With a peep hole just small enough to see with he watched the heavyset man laugh as his subordinate bowed to him.
"A shame Konoha blood will need to be split for this union but Danzo's ideals can not allow stones upon its road!." A familiar voice announced as the Anbu officer entered he living room with two subordinates in toe.
"Agreed, I hope Danzo appreciates the sacrifices I have made today. Loyal business partners are a rare commodity in the world now a days." The mayor Kato told the Anbu to Shikamaru's surprise.
"Of course, Danzo admires your willingness to extend Konoha's territory but he only tasked me with how the cleaning went?" The Anbu asked giving Kato a small bow.
"It went as planned, the Crimson Skull's cleared out nearly everyone on the list as well as destroyed the marked homes and businesses. They pulled out once the Leaf shinobi killed their recruits, they increased the cost for the job to which I humbly conceded to since it was far more important to have the job completed with out incident for both my own sake as well as yours." Kato grinned a toothy grin as he hinted towards a small reimbursement.
"I am sure you will be well compensated for the expenses in due time once this village becomes apart of our domain." Karashi insisted as he turned away to leave before a single drop of water fell on his shoulder much to Shikamaru's surprise as he realized it had fallen off his face due to the heavy rain from outside.
No sooner had the Anbu realized the droplet he searched then found the small pea sized hole in the sealing. In a bout of speed Karashi pulled multiple kunai from his belt and flung them into the ceiling easily penetrating into the crawl space.
"What the hell do you think you are doing to my house?!" The surprised Kato yelled as all of the rich mans men were brought on guard.
Karashi ignored the demand as he leaped onto the ceiling punching a hole into the frame work then ripping a large chunk away as he cautiously inspected the crawl space to only find the exit made by whoever had been spying on their conversation. Even behind his mask he could feel the cool air blow in from the opened window of the attic. Dissatisfied with the evident lack of blood signifying his kunai missed their mark he dropped to the floor as his fellow shinobi gathered to him for orders.
Confused by the situation the mayor Kato ran to the Anbu's side demanding an explanation. "Karashi will you answa-ARGHHH!" Kato was immediately cut off as red jets of blood sprayed from his throat from the kunai which had just silenced the greedy man once and for all. His heavy body hit the floor with a loud thud as his guards scrambled to defend them selfs.
With a face as emotionless as his blood stained mask Karashi issued the following order to his men who swiftly carried it out. "Prevent no one from leaving alive, there must be no witnesses." The ensuing screams priced Shikamaru's ears as he ran into city to escape being seen, it was already bad enough he just was able to exit the building before the Anbu had broken into the attic. Whatever was happening in there he was sure they deserved it for selling out their own village but that as only a side issue now, they had sent an assassin to the hospital and he needed to reach there fast.
Tayuya remained awake in the quiet room. Her head rested upon the pillow she had once thrown in anger at the window because of the black haired teen, the window she had left open for fresh air to keep her awake until his return. She had quietly begun to hum one of her flute melodies to her self until a sudden knock on the door broke her concentration. After a moments hesitation the red haired girl called out with a simple "Enter." expecting to see the chunin stand before her once more.
"Your Camilla right?" A tall blond girl asked as she held a bouquet of flowers in her left hand as she entered the room. The red head only nodded slowly in confirmation.
"I wanted to give you this for everything you have done." The girl said cheerfully as she offered the bouquet as she now stood beside the bed.
"Theres no need, I didn't do anything worth shit." Tayuya said aloud as she waved the blond girl away.
"I insist though..." Her cheery voice dissipating quickly. "You deserve it!" The girl screamed as she thrust the bouquet of flowers revealing a hidden blade which gleamed in the moonlight that warned Tayuya of the hidden danger as she tried to react and dodge it.
The kunai sank deep into the pillow as blood ran down its blade. The blond girl smiled instantly to this fact before she felt a strong grip take of of her arms as the blond girl tried to tug the kunai from the blood stained pillow as she realized it had only grazed her targets cheek.
With a voice as shrill as death it self the red head spoke aloud as she watched her own blood run down the fidgeting blade still tightly clenched in both of the blond girls hands.
"For that, your dead bitch!"