Shadowfox
Chapter 10
Sakura Hanamoto
Hinari and Takuro didn't stop moving, jumping from one tree to another, they're feet barely touching the branches before pushing off again. At a normal ninja's pace, the journey to Suna was three days long, but with the pace Hinari was setting, they'd be there in half that time.
'I feel like I've betrayed Konoha by leaving.' Takuro thought as he looked back along the path they'd come. He shook those thoughts from his head. 'No, I can't think like that, I'm doing this to save the village.' Takuro thought of his family, the five people who mattered so much to him. 'Don't worry Mom and Dad; I'll do everything within my power to free you. Satoko, be careful, and stay out of trouble too you blockheads.' The last thought was directed towards his two younger brothers. Slightly ahead of him, Hinari had halted. He stopped beside her.
"We're being followed," she said.
"By who?" Hinari sniffed the air.
"Maina, Haruka and her partner." Hinari replied.
"Should we wait for them to catch up?" Takuro asked.
"No, Maina can track our scents easily, they'll eventually catch up." Hinari said. With that, she bent her legs slightly and took off again for the next stable tree branch, Takuro just behind her.
XxXxXxX
"Do you think Hideki-sama will be safe?" Haruka asked Mamoru.
"Knowing him he's going to try to get them to release him by admitting to being the Daimyo's son." Mamoru told her with a shake of his head.
"He'd only get himself killed." Haruka muttered. "He's so useless."
"Hey, are you sure we're following Hinari and Takuro?" Mamoru asked Maina curiously.
"Yeah, a person's unique scent is the probably one of the few things that can't be mimicked by an illusion of any kind. Especially Hinari-san's." Maina told him.
"Why's that?"
"Hinari's scent is mixed with a powerful chakra that could be recognized by me anywhere."
"If you say so." Haruka said.
"I know so." The group of three pressed on, following Hinari and Takuro's route towards Suna.
XxXxXxX
Night had fallen, but they continued on, stopping only long enough to regain their breath. Hinari stared out into the dark forest, unmoving. Takuro said nothing, afraid of breaking the silence that had fallen between them. After a few more minutes Hinari turned to him.
"Let's get going." She said. Takuro nodded and stood up from the tree branch he'd been sitting on. The pair took off again. Hinari moved through the trees without making a sound, the epitome of stealth. The leaves barely even stirred with her passing. In comparison, Takuro made a little more noise, but to even the most trained ninja, his movements were perfectly silent. Only Hinari could move with such a ghost like grace that it was as if she had never existed at all. Leaving not a single sign of her passing through nature.
"Hinari, do you have a plan?" Takuro asked, finally breaking the silence.
"Not a complete one. I had a feeling that if things should go wrong I'd head straight for Suna, and figure things out from there." She admitted to him. "At the moment, I haven't got much to work with so there's not much a plan to go by yet."
"So, I take it that once we arrive in Suna, we'll inform the Kazekage of what has happened, and then you'll lay out your plans?" Hinari nodded.
"Bingo."
"How much blood will this plan involve do you think?" Takuro asked a bit nervously. Hinari grinned widely; her eyes seemed to momentarily change, the pupil contracting to a slit for a mere second.
"Lots of it. Lots and lots of blood." Takuro shivered silently at her slightly blood thirsty tone.
'I get the feeling that this is going to end with more casualties than really necessary.'
XxXxXxX
A small group of guards paced up and down the corridors looking through the bars of captive Konoha shinobi. Once everyone was imprisoned the task of reorganizing everyone had begun. Every Konoha ninja with an awakened kekkei genkai were thrown into one area, men on one side, and women on the other. After that, all other shinobi were sorted by rank, again one side held the men, the women were on the other side. The Academy students were also sorted in there. Below them were the civilians separated by men and women. Above the shinobi with kekkei genkai were the clan heads, village elders, and the Hokage.
The group walked down the corridor of the cells holding every member of the Hyuuga clan, with the exception of those that were Hyuuga by marriage only, the Uchiha children, and the Takeda siblings.
"So, which one should we take?" One guard asked as he leered at the women. They drew back away from them. One stopped in front of a cell. His eyes going over the women in the cell. There were several Hyuuga women, plus a woman with pink hair tied into a ponytail and a girl with white hair.
"Take the girl." One said pointing at Yukina. The girl shrank further into the corner she was crouched into. A guard opened the door and entered. He stepped towards Yukina, only to be met by Satoko.
"Don't touch her." She growled out.
"Out of my way bitch." The guard back-handed her and grabbed Yukina by the front of her shirt. "You're coming with us." He said grinning lecherously. Yukina bit her lip in fright. She was dragged out of the cell and further down the corridor. Yukina screamed at him to release her. On the other side, Hyourinmaru had run to the front of his cell and was screaming obscenities and threats at the guards.
"Leave her alone! Don't you dare lay a single finger on her or I'll fucking castrate you! You son of a bitch! Let her go!" He screamed.
"Onii-chan!" Yukina reached for her brother, but she received a kick to the stomach. She cried out.
"Yukina! No!" Hyourinmaru attempted to squeeze through the bars but he didn't fit. Yukina was dragged into an empty room where she was thrown to the ground. She quickly ran over the short lesson she'd been given by Hinari about a situation like this. Her mind wandered back to that day when she was eleven.
XxXxXxX
It was just the girls this night. Hyourinmaru had been graced with his first solo mission to give Hinari the time to talk to the girls.
"Now, today will be a very important lesson for you both." Hinari began. "I want you to listen very carefully." Both girls nodded. "I've already spoken to both of you about the whole sex business correct?" They nodded again. "Good, because today, this subject will have something to do with it." Hinari honestly was having a little trouble getting this started because it was something she had never experienced and never wanted to. "To start with, when two people have sex, it's usually with each others consent. But when it isn't, say, if the man wants it but the woman says 'no', then its rape.
"Men rape women for different reasons, but mostly it's out of violence against women. Some men just seem to like it, I think those men should be skinned and burned alive. If you are to ever end up in this situation and have no way of escaping, there are a few things I want you to remember. It will hurt, no matter what. You remember that little place in your mind that I taught you to create if you're ever tortured?" The girls nodded again. "In order to get past the pain, you are to retreat to that place should this ever happen. Also, if you are unable to retreat to that place, remain silent during the whole thing. The type of men that do this will prefer it if you make any kind of noise, so don't make any noise.
"Shishou, what if we can't keep ourselves from making noise?" Natsuhime asked.
"Those men like it if you make noise, so just try not to." Hinari couldn't think of much else to say. "I don't really know what else to tell you two, but please try not to let it happen."
"We will." The girls chorused.
XxXxXxX
Yukina slowly retreated into her mind as her clothes were violently ripped from her body. She remained silent as many hands ran over her body, her eyes closed tightly from having to see the faces of the men who were doing this. Her legs were pulled apart and her eyes snapped open as she was penetrated. Yukina could not keep her silence. She screamed.
XxXxXxX
Maina's small group had finally caught up to Hinari and Takuro as the sun was beginning to rise. Maina pulled up beside Hinari, her ears flat against her head.
"Good to know I've got a few more people to work with." Hinari murmured as Haruka and Mamoru fell into step beside Takuro. They had left the safety of the forests sometime in the night and were nearing the edge of the dessert, marking the line where one country ended and Wind began.
"Why are we going to Suna?" Mamoru asked.
"Idiot, Konoha and Suna are allies; so naturally, we're going to them for help." Haruka scolded her partner for his lapse in intelligence.
"Will they really help us?"
"Yes." Hinari told him, never taking her eyes off the billowing sand dunes ahead.
XxXxXxX
Yukina was thrown back into the cell she was sharing with several other women. She was barely hanging onto consciousness, and she hurt all over. A pair of strong arms enveloped her.
"Don't worry; I won't let them do that to you again." Satoko did her best to comfort the child. Yukina cried silently, tears spilling down her cheeks. She was still bleeding, and the guards hadn't bothered to return her clothes to her. She lay helpless in Satoko's arm, shivering from the cold and the mental trauma of it.
"Here, wrap this around her." A Hyuuga woman who had been wearing a cloak knelt beside Yukina and Satoko, the cloak bundled in her arms. Satoko took it and wrapped Yukina in it. Yukina whimpered slightly.
"It hurts." She whispered. Although she had been trained to ignore her pain, this was something foreign to her. It wasn't the same as being cut, or stabbed.
"Shhh, I know, I know it hurts." Satoko rocked back and forth on her knees, gently stroking Yukina's dirty white hair. Yukina slowly fell into a fitful sleep. Satoko placed her on the ground and ran a simple diagnostic of the girl.
"Will she be okay?" The woman who had offered her cloak asked.
"I don't know, it all depends on how she takes this in afterward." Satoko said. Satoko's fists clenched with the urge to crush something. 'I swear, if I ever get the change, I'm gonna tear them limb from limb.' She thought.
Down the hall, Hyourinmaru was having similar thoughts. 'Those bastards, I'm gonna make them wish they'd never been born!' He had watched horrified as his sister was dragged back to her cell, her body bruised and beaten, blood flowing down her legs. Even though it was wrong to look, he hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from the pure anguish on his little sister's face. 'I'm gonna make them pay and beg for mercy when I'm through.'
XxXxXxX
Uchiha Sasuke sat in his own personal cell. The cells beside his were occupied by Hyuuga Hanabi and Nara Shikamaru. He was slouched against the wall, staring at his feet. He heard footsteps approaching but did not look up. The footsteps stopped in front of his cell, and he heard a soft chuckle.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the great Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke looked up slowly to see Orochimaru and Kabuto standing before him. Rage instantly reared its ugly head within him. He rose slowly, not really putting any effort into his movement. "My, time has certainly had his way with you." Orochimaru remarked, noting the gray hairs that were already sprouting in Sasuke's black hair.
"At least I'm still human." Sasuke retorted, his voice devoid of any real malice in it. He just didn't seem to have any energy left within him.
"Hmmm, it didn't have to be that way."
"Yes it did. I was a stupid little kid, thinking it was all a game. If it hadn't been for Naruto-,"
"If it hadn't been for that Yondaime clone, you could have had so much more power." Orochimaru interrupted.
"No, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be the man I am today." Sasuke told him. "He," Sasuke paused to find the right word. "Naruto saved me from the darkness. He was like a brother to me."
"Oh? Even more of a brother than Itachi?"
"Do not speak that name." Sasuke hissed. Even now, the subject of his dead brother was still a touchy one.
"You were always weak Sasuke, held down by your bonds with others. Your friendship with Naruto held you back as a genin; your brother overshadowed you as a child. Why throw away the true greatness you could have achieved by joining me?"
"Because you were just a part of my plan. I thought that if I could kill you, I could kill Itachi. I was wrong." Sasuke sank to the floor again.
"Even now, your 'family' holds you back. That whore of a wife, your children, two of which you still coddle." Orochimaru wondered if this could get a better reaction of the Uchiha.
"Do not speak of my family that way." Sasuke growled. He had worked hard to bring the Uchiha family to the fame it had now, he wouldn't let anyone get away with slandering it. "Do not speak of Sakura like that, and don't you dare bring my children into it." Sasuke rose to his feet again, his anger towards Orochimaru feeding his strength.
"Hmph, would you still be saying that still if I did this?" Orochimaru snapped his fingers and four guards appeared, two guards for each boy. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, seeing the threat clearly.
"Let them go!" Sasuke charged at the bars of his cell, he thrust his arm through and attempted to grab Orochimaru by the collar of his shirt, but the man stepped out of the way.
"Dad!" Renpachi cried, kicking his legs slightly in a poor attempt at freeing himself. A guard brought a knife up to his throat. Renpachi froze instantly.
"No! Don't hurt them. Please!" Sasuke fell to his knees, his legs suddenly too weak to support his weight. "Please." He repeated desperately.
"Look at you, reduced to groveling like this. You truly are weak Uchiha Sasuke, perhaps I was wrong; you would have made a terrible host." Orochimaru turned walked away. Kabuto following like a loyal pup. The guards lingered.
"Please, let me just hold them." Sasuke looked up. One guard seemed slightly sympathetic towards the man. Slowly, he released Raisuke's arm and the other three followed suit, somewhat hesitantly. Renpachi and Raisuke dove at their father and hugged him through the bars of his cage.
"Dad!" Both boys sobbed in Sasuke's arms. Slowly, they let go.
"Listen to me, please, please do not do anything to get you two hurt." Sasuke said. Both boys nodded. "Promise me!"
"We promise Dad." Sasuke hugged them one more time before they were taken away. Sasuke retreated to the back of his cell and sighed.
"You know, I honestly didn't think you'd be such a good father." Shikamaru commented.
"Nor did I ever think you could be a responsible adult." Sasuke replied. Shikamaru snorted.
"Asuma-sensei taught me that. One of the few lessons I actually took to heart." Shikamaru muttered.
XxXxXxX
The group of four jounin and one chuunin made their way across the billowing deserts of Suna. Hinari leading, everyone else behind her, gripping each other's hands tightly. A sand storm had kicked in, but they kept going, relying on Hinari's eyes to lead them to their destination. Maina brought up the rear, her ears flattened completely to prevent sand from getting into them. They also had their eyes closed since they couldn't have been able to see either way.
Traveling slowly for another five hours, the storm eventually died down and they could see once more. Hinari's eyes had led them straight and true towards Suna's cliff-like gates. As they approached, a great wall of sand rose up and blocked their path. Hinari scowled in annoyance at the appearance of the wall. With a sigh, she cleared her throat.
"YASHA! QUIT MESSING AROUND AND LET US IN YOU IDIOT!" She screamed. A dusting of bright red appeared at the top of the wall.
"OH, HINARI! BACK ALREADY?" The wall melted back into the desert and Yasha jogged up to them.
"I must speak to your father immediately." She snapped.
"Father's in a meeting with the village counsel right now."
"Well, those old farts can wait, Konoha's future is more important." Yasha blinked and turned. He gestured for them to follow, and he led them through the gates into the village. Several villagers paused to stare at the group of Konoha shinobi following the Kazekage's son.
"What the hell is the big deal with these idiots? They act like they haven't seen Konoha ninja before." Mamoru muttered.
"Word has already spread; they know what happened to Konoha." Hinari told him. "They weren't expecting people to have escaped and show up."
"That makes sense, but, do you think Gaara-sama will be willing to help us out?" Haruka asked.
"I'm not certain, but I have a feeling that he will help."
The group came to the Kazekage's office and Yasha let them in. A couple chairs were pushed up against the wall and Maina and Haruka quickly commandeered one each.
XxXxXxX
When Gaara eventually arrived from his meeting, he was already in a bad mood, having glared at a hapless chuunin on the way, he felt a little better. Upon opening the door to his office, he was met with the sight of five exhausted ninja from Konoha, and his son.
"Father, Hinari says that she has to speak with you." Yasha reported to him. Gaara nodded and sat at his desk. Hinari rose from her spot from the floor and stood at attention.
"Gaara-sama, Konoha has fallen into the hands of Orochimaru." She said all business.
"So I've heard." He murmured. "Is there anything you want?"
"Yes, I'm formally requesting aid to free Konoha from Orochimaru, please sir." She told him. Gaara paused to think for a moment.
"I will gladly help you Hinari. However, I must know, just how much help do you need?" He asked.
"That is still undetermined sir, but thank you." Hinari bowed to him.
"For the duration of your stay, I will have rooms prepared for all of you." Gaara told them. "Yasha, find someone to help them with that."
"Yes Father," Yasha stepped out of the office to do as he was ordered. No one spoke while they waited for Yasha to return.
When he eventually did, he beckoned the five to follow him. They did so without complaint. They came to the hotel they would be staying at, paid for by the Kazekage himself. They all had rooms on the same floor, and Yasha left them to do as they pleased.
XxXxXxX
Takuro wandered through the darkened village searching for Hinari. She had disappeared hours ago and it made him worried. He came to a bar and stuck his head through the door. He swept his eyes across the room in search of the woman. His eyes came to rest upon a tall woman sitting at the bar, nursing a large bottle of sake. He entered and ignored the unenthusiastic welcome from the bartender.
"Hinari?" He cautiously rested his hand on her shoulder.
"Piss off," She told him, shaking his hand off and taking a long drink from the bottle. Upon realizing that Takuro had not moved, she turned around to glare at him. "What the fuck do you want?" She asked him.
"I just came looking for you, that's all." He told her.
"I don't need your help." She turned back to bar and leaned against it, still gripping the neck of the bottle tightly. She drank some more. Takuro sat down on the stool beside her and began the slow process of prying the bottle from her hands. She eventually let go of it. Takuro dumped some money on the counter and lead Hinari off. She leaned heavily against him, her legs too weak to properly support her weight. As they walked, Hinari began to giggle.
"What's so funny?" Takuro asked curiously.
"You, you're always around when I don't need you to be." She said, stepping away from him. "Don't you have anything better to do? You say you'll always be there, but what if I don't want you to? What then? You are such a cheesy son of a bitch." Takuro did not answer. Clouds darkened the sky further and with a rumble of thunder, it began to rain. He looked up at the sky, surprised it would waste the water on the desert. Hinari began to laugh again. She spun about in a circle, her mouth wide opening to catch the falling rain.
"Hinari, come over here." Takuro retreated beneath a shop's awning. Hinari made no move to come; she continued to twirl about like a silly little girl.
"Come on Takuro, its fun! The rain is warm!" She laughed as she jumped into a puddle of sand-turned-mud. Takuro heaved a sigh. Overall, Hinari was behaving like a child. Or perhaps this was her drunken behavior. People were always different types of drunk, from what he could remember of the few times his parents had been drunk, his mother became reckless and gambled, while his father would sit and stew until he sobered up, then he would at least respond.
"Taku-chan is sooo boring!" Hinari stuck her tongue out at him. He blinked.
'Did she just call me 'Taku-chan'?' He asked himself. Hinari came up to him and grabbed him by the elbows.
"Come dance with me Taku-chan!" She dragged him out into the rain and swung him around haphazardly. After a while, they both grew dizzy and Hinari let go of him. They both tumbled into the mud. Hinari continued to laugh until she was gasping for breath. It seemed that all that dancing around and rain had sobered her up a bit. She rolled across the muck towards him and curled up by his side and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Hinari?"
"I'm sorry Takuro, but I-," She wasn't sure of what she wanted to say. "I-I guess I'm not as great as some people think. I really don't know what I'm supposed to do. I want to save them, all of them, but I don't know how." She began to cry against his chest, her shoulders shaking as she sniffed. Takuro embraced her tightly.
"I know Hinari, I understand." He whispered into her ear.
XxXxXxX
Takuro groaned, Hinari had neglected to bring the key to her room, so now he couldn't get into it and put her to bed. She had fallen asleep in his arms and showed no signs of waking up. Finally, he gave up and walked a little further down the hall his own room. Resting Hinari against the wall he unlocked the door and pushed it wide open. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed and put her down carefully. He removed her sandals and jacket and pulled her hair out of the braid so that it would dry a bit. He tucked her in and plopped into the lounge chair on the other side of the room and proceeded to fall asleep.
XxXxXxX
Takuro awoke in the middle of the night to hear Hinari tossing and turning. He listened for a moment and heard her murmur something softly.
"No…hurt…" He could only make out every other word clearly. "Takuro-kun…" After watching her flail around in the blankets a bit more, Takuro stood up and walked to the bed. He pulled the blankets away from her and hugged her tightly. She calmed and her frightened whimpering ceased. Hinari gripped his shirt tightly and breathed deeply. Even in her sleep, she knew his scent.
Takuro recalled the time when she had lost her memory and could not sleep because her memories would return in the form of dreams. He'd always ended sleeping next to her because she wouldn't let go of him. He knew that this time would be no different. He crawled into the bed beside her and pulled the blankets back up, and together they slept peacefully.
XxXxXxX
The next morning, they went to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. In a sad attempt at blending in, they'd removed their forehead protectors, but stood out anyway because of Maina. They ordered their food and sat in silence to wait.
Their breakfast arrived and they all were digging in happily when a chuunin approached the table. He stood stiffly; sweat beading on his forehead from nerves.
"Are any of you Uzumaki Hinari?" He asked slowly. Hinari raised her hand, both chopsticks sticking out of her mouth. "Kazekage-sama wishes to speak with you." He said. Hinari nodded and put her chopsticks down. She rose from her seat and followed the chuunin to the Kazekage's tower. She knocked on Gaara's door and he called for her to enter. She opened the door and closed it. She stood directly in front of the door, waiting for him to speak.
"I'm certain that you are wondering as to why I've called you here." Gaara stated, not looking up from the paperwork he was going through. Hinari nodded certain that he wouldn't see the movement. "All I wish to know is just how much danger my people will be put in?" He asked her.
"The civilians, none I expect, but your fellow shinobi will most definitely be faced by a life and death situation at some point." She replied.
"Very well, do you have any questions to ask me?" Hinari blinked, she indeed had one question to ask, but throughout this entire meeting his eyes had never left the paper in front of him.
"Yes, sir, I just want to know why you have agreed so readily to help me." She said to him. Gaara put his pen down and looked up at her.
"I owe Konoha a great deal Hinari. But mostly, I am still within your father's debt, even after all these years. I just want to return the favor by aiding the village he loves so much, and by offering my assistance to his child."
"What did my father do exactly?"
"Upon my first trip to Konoha as a genin, I had yet to be injured in battle, ever." Gaara told her, leaning back in his chair slightly. "I was there for the chuunin exam. It was during that exam that I met with many firsts.
"The first person to successfully land a blow was Rock Lee. I ended up temporarily crippling him. The first person to make me bleed was Uchiha Sasuke, I nearly crushed him. And, the very first person I lost a battle to was your father. He taught me that I did not have to fight for myself alone, that I could fight for those I cared about. He told me that true strength is not measured by how many people I have killed, but by how much I'm willing to do through to protect those closest to me. I realized that the ninja of Konoha were truly strong, fighting for their village, for their friends and family. That is strength that I did not really understand until I died."
"You died…?" Hinari was somewhat confused, for someone who had cheated death herself she wasn't sure how another could have done it.
"You've heard of the former organization of Akatsuki, correct?"
"Yes, I have."
"They were collecting the nine Bijuu to harness that power and use it to bring about the destruction of man kind. They successfully incapacitated me, took the Shukaku, and as a result, I died." Gaara paused to think back on those events. "If it wasn't for Naruto's team, and the team that consisted of your second cousin Neji, I would have remained dead. I was brought back to this world by a technique used by a retired council elder. With Naruto's assistance, I was brought back to life. For that, I am in his debt. Cooperating with you is just my way of repaying that debt, no matter how many years it has taken."
"Thank you for explaining sir, and I am honored to have your assistance." Hinari bowed to him. "Oh, within the next couple of days, several foreign ninja will be coming, so please don't be too alarmed, they'll be here to see me and I'll keep them in line." Gaara nodded and Hinari left.
XxXxXxX
Hinari stood at the gates, waiting. After about two hours, seven figures appeared on the horizon. Yasha stood next to her, having spotted the figures as well.
"Don't raise the wall, I've been expecting them." She said. The sound of footsteps drew Yasha's attention and a jounin stood there.
"They're here already Shadowfox?" The jounin asked.
"That's right," Hinari smiled; glad that she'd thought of this in advance. In another hour, those seven figures solidified into four women and three men, each and every one wearing the forehead protector of a different village. Yasha came on the offense when he saw the symbol of Oto and Iwa. "Don't." Hinari stopped him. "They're with me."
"You can trust them?" Yasha asked.
"Yes, I'm paying them more than their leaders are; their loyalty lies with the one with the biggest wallet." Hinari told him. Yasha scowled and looked over at the jounin standing behind them.
"Why are you here?" Yasha asked.
"I'm with them." The jounin replied, pointing at the approaching shinobi. Yasha frowned but said nothing more.
"Shadowfox, we feared you had not escaped." A woman from Amegakure said with a small smile.
"Come on, they don't call me Shadowfox for nothing Amaya." Hinari replied. The others laughed. "Now, for the first order of business, as you are all working for me indefinitely, remove your forehead protectors, you are no longer aligned to any one village. You fight to bring down the Snake and those in his nest." Hinari said. One by one, they all removed their forehead protectors and stowed them away.
"So, how do we plan on taking out the Snake?" Asked a boy from Kusa. He couldn't be any older than seventeen, but it was easy to see that he was strong.
"Follow me; we are to meet with some who escaped the invasion as well as the Kazekage." Hinari told them. The group followed her, while the villagers stared warily at those they did not recognize. Hinair smiled, in an odd sort of way, she was glad that Orochimaru had succeeded, because now, she could prove to him what she was truly made of, and that she was not to be messed with. 'The Snake can have his petty victory, for the Fox is a trickster, he won't know what hit him until he's lying on the ground, his head in my hands.' She thought with a sadistic grin. Deep inside, she felt Kyuubi shift from the sudden rise of bloodlust from his host.
The large group came to the tower and entered Gaara's office. Hinari wasn't too surprised to see him changed from the white and blue robes to a more battle ready outfit, a gourd filled with sand strapped to his back. He glowered at the newcomers, a silent warning to them all. Hinari's group from Konoha was also present, stripped of anything that suggested that they were from Konoha.
"I believe introductions are in order." Hinari said. Introductions went around the room, everyone refraining from giving a family name. Hinari was the only one who said nothing; everyone knew who she was to an extent.
"Shadowfox, if we are to be working with you, I demand to know your true name." One of the men said. Hinari thought about it.
"I suppose I could tell you, and I know that you'll just get pissed off if I don't, so what choice do I have? My name is Hinari." She said with a grin.
"I trust you will keep your friends in line Hinari?" Gaara asked.
"Of course, I promise you I will." She gave him a salute, and then turned to her group of informants. "Now, for the next bit of business, we'll be training." She said.
"What do you mean?" Amaya asked. Hinari grinned again.
"Don't worry, you'll see all in due time." She told the woman.
XxXxXxX
Hyourinmaru was huddled in his cell, sitting behind a Hyuuga man. Yukina had been dragged off again and he was sitting there in an attempt at keeping himself under control by making a miniature blizzard in the palm of his hand. He so desperately wanted to strangle the men that were hurting his younger sister. Natsuhime wasn't on this level because she had no kekkei genkai, and he knew for a fact that Hinari wasn't even in the village at this point.
"Shishou, come and save us, please." He whispered as the little bits of ice circling around in his hand melted away.
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