Chapter Ten
"She would change everything for happy ever after
Caught in the in between of beautiful disaster
She just needs someone to take her home."

Gray clouds rumbled overhead as Kinshin sat outside watching them the next morning. Kakuzu had refused to speak to her for the rest of the night, which admittedly wasn't that unusual, but it still made her uneasy. She believed that he had meant what he said, and she didn't know what to think of it.

Hidan had acted oddly the night before, too, when she thought about it. Perhaps they were getting restless waiting for the ferry with no "proper sacrifices" or bounties in the immediate area. It was a possibility.

"No offense, but being deep in thought doesn't suit you," Naoki said, squatting next to where she sat. He grinned at her when she scowled.

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought of something last night. I have a feeling you could be the one who can solve this problem I have."

Kinshin was intrigued. She twisted her whole body to look at him more closely. "What is it?"

"Forgive my closeness," he murmured, then moved in and put his mouth beside her ear. "Tachibana has eyes and ears everywhere," he whispered. "One can never be too careful. You see, my problem is this: Tachibana has been systematically picking off members of the resistance, and the others are losing hope in our cause."

Kinshin blinked. "What does that have to do with me?"

"You're an outsider. Albeit, an unusually kind one, but if you're willing to fight for the freedom of people you don't know, at no gain of your own, it might boost their morale." He stood and brushed nonexistent dirt from his hakama, "Think about it, won't you?"

"I'll help you," Kinshin resolved, standing and following him. "But you have to do something for me."

He raised a brow, "And what might that be?"

She pointed to his sword, "Are you any good with that?"

"Of course."

She drew her katana with speed and accuracy and grinned at him. "Then don't go easy on me," and she attacked.

Still sweaty and panting from their spar, Naoki and Kinshin walked through the market. Kinshin hadn't been able to beat Naoki—he was an experienced swordsman, after all—but she had held her own fairly well, which was all she had really wanted.

"That was pretty impressive, Kinshin-chama," Naoki conceded.

"Hidan-san taught me. I'm sorry for the way he treated you yesterday, by the way."

Naoki smirked, "It's fine. It was actually reassuring, seeing that you really were in good hands. I'm just surprised your boyfriend was more protective than your father."

"Father? Kakuzu-san isn't my father."

"I know. I was just checking something."

She drew her mouth into a confused 'o'. "What?"

"You've yet to deny that Hidan-san is your boyfriend."

She bristled, "He's not—"

"Naoki-san!" a boy came running up to the two of them. He looked frantic. "A new bulletin was posted today," he said. "Tachibana-sama is offering a reward for anyone who turns in rebels. There's also a wanted poster for her." The boy held up the poster, and from it stared a crude drawing that might have resembled Kinshin in some other universe.

"He's not offering much for her, though," the boy added.

"He doesn't really want her turned in. He's just trying to scare her out of the village," Naoki said.

"What should we do?"

"Get word around that there will be a meeting tonight," Naoki told the boy, who quickly ran off. Naoki looked to Kinshin, "Will you join me?"

Kinshin nodded, and just then, the rain started to fall.

It was late at night when Naoki left Kinshin at her shack and went home. She went inside as quietly as she could, but found both Hidan and Kakuzu were awake. She didn't look at either of them as she stripped off her wet clothes to hang them up to dry, and settled in front of the fire to warm herself. The scar that ran up her torso and the one in her shoulder throbbed with the cold.

"You work fast," Hidan snarked.

She drew her knees to her chest and crossed her arms over them, rubbing her chilled, wet limbs. She wasn't sure what Hidan was talking about, but she had a feeling she was too cold and tired for whatever it was. "Do I?" she asked, uninterestedly. He had probably seen the wanted poster and was going to give her grief about it.

"How was he?" Hidan asked. "I'll bet he's a quick shot."

Her head snapped to his direction, "What?"

Hidan came over and sat behind her, and for the first time, she was self-conscious about being naked in front of the two men. "Where did he touch you?" he asked, putting a hand on the girl's bony hip. "Here?"

An involuntary shudder ran up her spine, but was quickly replaced by anger at what Hidan was saying to her. "He didn't!" she snapped, wiggling until his hand fell from her body. "I didn't have sex with him."

"I'll bet you didn't," Hidan hissed in her ear sarcastically.

"Knock it off," Kakuzu commanded his silver-haired partner. But whether it was for Kinshin's benefit or because he was sick of listening to Hidan was anyone's guess.

Hidan glared at Kakuzu, but stood, taking a second to throw his cloak over Kinshin's shoulders before retreating to his side of the room. "What have you been doing all day, then?" Hidan asked more casually.

"We sparred," she told them. "Naoki-kun is a skilled swordsman."

"So it's 'kun' now," muttered Kakuzu.

"We're friends," she defended. "What is it with you two?"

Hidan sneered, ignoring her. "You sparred all fucking day?"

"Tachibana wants me turned in," she admitted. "And he's offering a reward to anyone who turns in someone from the rebellion, too."

Hidan snorted, "Well, fuck him. He's not getting you." He grimaced when she smiled sweetly at him, "Don't let it go to your head. If you're gonna die, it'll be as a sacrifice for Jashin-sama, not for that son of a bitch's ego."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "Thank you, Hidan-san."

When Kinshin awoke the next morning, wrapped in Hidan's cloak and enjoying both the softness of the material and the scent on it, Kakuzu wasn't there. Hidan told her Kakuzu hadn't been there when he had awoken, either.

"I wonder where he went," Kinshin thought aloud as she dressed. "You think it was to get food?"

Hidan pulled his cloak on. "How should I know?" They left their shack, setting to the streets to find Kakuzu, but were stopped when the messenger boy from the day before ran up to them.

"Naoki-san is being arrested," he reported.

"Why?" Kinshin asked.

"He's being accused of leading a revolution against Tachibana-sama."

Kinshin followed the boy to the place where the villagers watched mutely as Naoki was dragged away by two ninja and five patrolmen. When the people saw her coming, they stepped aside, allowing her access to the front of the crowd. Naoki was just being pulled through the large gates when Kinshin finally saw him. She rushed forward, intending to free him, but was stopped suddenly and hauled back by a hand on her wrist.

"Kakuzu-san!" Kinshin stared at him. "Let me go, I have to help."

He towed her back to Hidan. "The ferry is fixed. Prepare to leave," he said to both Hidan and Kinshin.

"About time," Hidan muttered, following Kakuzu toward the village's exit.

Kinshin looked between the two men, then over her shoulder at the downtrodden faces of the villagers. Naoki was the only one keeping the patrolmen at bay, the only one giving the people hope, and to only one who Tachibana had promised to never arrest. Kinshin still didn't know why or how the understanding between Tachibana and Naoki had come about, but the people had been relying on Naoki's immunity, nonetheless.

"I can't," Kinshin whispered, halting, and making her companions look curiously at her. "I can't just leave these people alone like this."

"Tachibana only agreed to let you go if another rebel was turned in in your place," Kakuzu told her. "Leave now, or you can still be arrested."

"And that was the deal?" Kinshin asked him in disbelief. "There was no reward money involved?"

"That isn't the point."

"Even if there was no money, Naoki-kun was arrested because of me," Kinshin lamented. "If I hadn't gotten involved, Tachibana wouldn't have put that reward on me, and you wouldn't have made that deal." She turned away from them, facing the village. "I have to at least save Naoki-kun."

"Come with us now, or we leave you here with no money for the ferry."

"I understand, Kakuzu-san. I guess this is goodbye, then." Kinshin smiled at them sadly, then began running toward the village. She entered the market and looked around for anyone who she recognized from the meeting the night before. When she spotted one of the older men, she approached him.

"Yamada-san," she called to him. "Naoki-kun—"

"I heard about Naoki-dono," Yamada told her, stroking his beard.

"When are you planning on rescuing him?"

Yamada shook his head, "We aren't. Tachibana-sama has arrested his own brother. What chance do the rest of us have?"

"His brother? Tachibana and Naoki-kun are brothers?"

"Half-brothers. Naoki-dono was the illegitimate son of the previous Tachibana and his mistress. Tachibana-sama promised his father that he would take care of Naoki-dono, but you can see how that turned out." Yamada gave her a look, "I'm surprised Naoki-dono didn't tell you."

"So you're not going to do anything?"

"He's got six ninja and more than fifty guards," Yamada argued. "There isn't anything we can do."

She frowned, "And everyone else feels that way, too?"

"I'm sorry, Kinshin-chan."

Kinshin clenched a fist, "I'm here to save Naoki-kun, and I'm not leaving until I do." She turned to face all of the people on the street. "You're all just going to give up and let Tachibana do whatever he wants?" she shouted, effectively getting their attentions. "Even if you don't care that Naoki-kun ran interference for so many of you, you should at least care that some of your husbands and sons are in there with him.

"I can understand being afraid. But you'll all die eventually anyway, if Tachibana stays in charge." She looked over all of their dirty faces, and each person she looked to averted his or her eyes. "No one will help? Not one person will take the risk to make everyone's lives better?" The silence was answer enough, and Kinshin slouched. Fine then, she decided, moving toward Tachibana's mansion. She would do this on her own.

Tachibana's gate loomed over her, higher than it looked from a distance. Getting it open would be impossible, and climbing it was out of the question. She really had no idea how she was going to do this; planning ahead wasn't her strong suit. Would it be stupid to just go knock on the gate and politely ask to be let in? Yes, it would, but it sounded like something Kinshin would do, so she decided to do it. Her fist had almost touched the wood when someone behind her spoke.

"That's probably not the best idea," said the voice, and when Kinshin turned, she saw Yamada, the messenger boy, and seven other men and women, who ranged in age from very young to very old.

"You came?"

Yamada sighed, "Naoki-dono would not let one person do this alone. And especially not someone like you."

Kinshin was too happy to be insulted. "Does anyone have a better way to get in?"

One of the older women spoke up, "I used to be a maid on the Tachibana estate many years ago. There is a small passage in the wall, which is used for emergency evacuations of the noble family in the event of an attack. We can enter through it, and then go into the castle through the kitchen."

"Great! Does anyone know where Naoki-kun would be inside?" Kinshin asked.

A young man came forward this time, "My father was a guard on the estate. I went with him to the dungeon all the time when I was a kid."

Kinshin beamed. It was no wonder this group of people was Naoki's selected team for the rebellion. "Okay. So you"—Kinshin pointed at the woman—"will lead us inside. Then a few of us will go with him"—she gestured to the man who had spoken—"to free Naoki-kun. Once we've done that, Naoki-kun is in charge."

"Who stays and fights, and who goes with Hirosuke-kun to the dungeon?" asked one of the others.

Yamada bowed his head, "The ones who hold off the guard and distract the ninja will probably die. I will stay, but I will not force any of you to volunteer for it."

"I'll stay behind," Kinshin said.

"There are ten of us," said another of the women. "Five should stay, and five should go, and we can't put all of our strongest on any one team."

"True," Yamada nodded. "Can we count on you as well, then, Kasumi-san?"

She nodded, "And that's three. We need two more to hold off the guards."

Two men, twins, exchanged a glance between each other and raised their hands simultaneously. "We'll stay, too."

"Good," Yamada nodded sagely. "The rest of you will go with Hirosuke."

"Understood," the remaining four said together. They all wore looks of shame, feeling cowardly for not volunteering to stay and fight.

Yamada gestured for the older woman to lead the way, and she took them around to a small door, hidden behind shrubbery in an area that was shaded by large trees. With the slightest amount of pressure, the panel popped inward, and a rectangular hole that was just barely big enough for a person to squeeze through opened up. The ten crawled through, the biggest members of their party struggling a little, and they went to the side door of the kitchen.

The older woman who had led them pulled a scarf from her sleeve and tied it around her mouth and nose, then pulled a capsule out of her pocket and went inside, activating her smoke bomb. There was a lot of noise and coughing from inside, bit it silenced quickly, and the door was opened once more to allow the rebels through. They held their breaths as they moved through the kitchen and came out in the servants' hallway.

"The dungeon is downstairs," Hirosuke whispered to the group, and a collective nod followed as they split up into their predetermined groups.

Yamada led them through the halls, pausing beside a door and taking a deep breath. "This is it. Through this door is the courtyard. We'll be able to lure all of the guards to us if we cause enough trouble." He didn't give them another minute before bursting through the door, whipping out his naginata and howling a battle cry.

Kinshin and the others followed him into the courtyard, which only had a handful of guards to start, but quickly filled as the alarms were sounded. Her stomach tightened nervously as she drew her sword, watching wave after wave of armored men enter through various doors. She couldn't bring herself to attack first, so she waited for Tachibana's men to came at her, and set to defending herself.

She fought better than she had against Michi, she noted with some level of triumph, and sent a silent thanks to Shiori for it. But, in the end, she was still a novice, and a severely outnumbered novice at that. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the twins fall, an arrow between his third and fourth vertebrae, if she recalled correctly. She quickly shook her head and focused on the soldiers attacking her, slicing one's peroneus longus before darting around him to the next.

This one managed to cut her side, but she ignored the searing pain and twisted her blade, slitting the man's right wrist, before swinging her foot into his side and knocking him away. Her next opponent was one of the shinobi. He came at her, his hands a blur in the chakra releasing seals that Shiori had once mentioned. Kinshin didn't have much time to think about this before her body was hit with an electric jolt that made her mind go completely blank.

She landed flat on her back, and the ninja stalked closer to her, leaning over her prone form. He had a blade in his hand, and Kinshin couldn't make her body do much more than squint at it. Was this what she had left Hidan and Kakuzu for? To get killed? And what if rescuing Naoki didn't work out, and the rest of the team was killed? Then everyone would be dead, and Tachibana would exploit the people until they were all dead, too. Was this what she had felt was important enough to let the only people she had ever really cared about walk away from her?

She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, waiting for the kunai to pierce her skull.

"So damn stupid," muttered Hidan to himself. "Gonna go get herself killed. Stupid bitch."

The river had just come into view, and the two Akatsuki members were just in time for the first ferry ride of the day. Hidan continued grouching under his breath the whole way there, and he hadn't stopped since Kinshin had decided to go back to the village.

"This has to happen," Hidan stated. "She got it in her head that we'd be there to bail her ass out of trouble every time. It'll do her good to work out her own problems."

Kakuzu halted suddenly, "She won't learn anything if she's dead."

"Serves her right," Hidan retorted, but they both knew he was just putting on a front. Irritated at how unconvincing his aloofness was, he stomped a foot. "I'm not going back," he declared. "If she wants to throw her useless little life away for some pussy motherfucker, I don't give a shit!"

Ignoring him, Kakuzu turned and walked back the way they'd come, returning to the village.

"Don't expect me to wait around for you!" Hidan snarled after him. Huffing he got in line for the ticket booth, resolving to stick to his guns and continue on as planned.

Kinshin opened her eyes. She was in a bedroom. It looked a lot like Akemi's, with knickknacks and stuffed animals decorating shelves mounted on pink and green striped walls. She could smell something cooking, and suddenly felt hungry, hungrier than she ever had in her life. Slipping out from under the fluffy comforter, she padded to the door and opened it.

Outside was a hall. It was plain wood with matching wood doors, but when she stepped into the hallway, the carpet felt like dewy grass under her feet. She followed the smell down the hall, which opened up to a bright kitchen painted and tiled in yellows and whites. Three children sat around a table, and didn't seem to notice Kinshin's arrival.

The woman at the stove turned, and though surprise shone in her ultramarine eyes, she smiled and approached Kinshin, her arms wide. "When did you get home?" she asked, her voice like wind chimes. When she finally got close enough to Kinshin, she had the girl wrapped in her willowy arms. "It doesn't matter," the imagined mother whispered. "You're home now."

Kinshin had cried many times before. She had spent most of her life feeling vulnerable and weak. But as she leaned her weight against this mother figure, and the two sank to their knees, she cried like never before.

"Don't leave me again," the mother pleaded, and Kinshin's eyes snapped open.

She was no longer in the sunny kitchen holding the imaginary mother, but in Shiori's dark one, clinging to Hidan and begging him not to leave her again. In the next instant, she was watching Naoki being dragged into Tachibana's compound. And then she was on the road, running back into the village, and looking over her shoulder at Hidan and Kakuzu, as they went on their way with no regard for the fact that she had just left them.

She opened her eyes again, and was back with the make-believe mother. Kinshin wiped her eyes and pulled away from the woman. "I'm sorry," she said. "I can't stay. I have a friend to save, a village to help, and then I have to catch up to my miser and my psycho."

The mother watched Kinshin walk away from where she knelt on the ground. "I thought this is what you always wanted," she murmured.

Kinshin, upliftingly enlightened, smiled back at the woman. "So did I."

When next Kinshin opened her eyes, she was lying on the ground, with the ninja who had made an attempt at her life in a shattered-boned heap somewhere off to her left. Above her, all she could see was a red cloud on black backdrop.

Kakuzu killed another of Tachibana's hired ninjas easily, noted with some annoyance that they must have been chuunin to be so weak. As one of the natural lulls of battle came, he took the moment to glance down at Kinshin. The girl had a gash in her side, which had soaked a long crimson stripe down her clothing and turned the dirt below her an ominous rusty-brown. She looked up at him blankly, not appearing to be in any pain.

"Get up."

She blinked and her eyes widened, as if his voice had broken her out of a spell, and she was just then back to the real world. She stumbled to her feet and stood beside him, a hand pressed against her wound. "You came for me."

Kakuzu knocked one of the guards back, breaking several of the man's bones, if not killing him. "Cover yourself. I'll handle the ninja," he growled.

"Okay," Kinshin nodded. Kakuzu leapt up to meet one of the shinobi head on, and Kinshin ran through one of the guards. With Kakuzu there, the fight was far more balanced, and the rest of the guards were finished off or retreated quickly.

When the battle had finished, Kinshin looked around. At some point, Naoki's rescue team had come to help, and of their original ten, only five remained, Kinshin included. Kakuzu came to stand behind Kinshin as the team reunited.

"Where is Naoki-kun?" Kinshin asked Hirosuke, who sported a black eye and a split lip, but all-in-all looked to be in pretty good shape.

"He went on ahead to take care of Tachibana. Said it was his job to do alone and sent us here to help you guys." Hirosuke answered.

Kasumi rolled Yamada's body onto its back and checked for a pulse, shaking her head sadly when she found none. The still-living of the twins wiped blood from his brother's face and also rejoined the group, while the messenger-boy favored his right arm, which looked to be broken, and holding back tears.

"What do we do now?" Kinshin asked, looking everyone in their forlorn faces.

Kasumi, now in charge by default with Naoki gone and Yamada dead, looked to the overcast sky. "We wait."

Naoki emerged from Tachibana's chamber a short time later, bloody and weary. Regardless, he called an assembly of the village and explained what had happened, and how he owed a great debt to those who had come to his rescue and especially to those who had died. And then cleanup started.

"Sorry I can't stay and help," Kinshin apologized to Naoki at the edge of the village, where she had Kakuzu were about to get on their way.

Naoki took her hand in his and grinned at her. "You've already done enough, Kinshin-chama," he said. "But I feel it is my duty to my village to ask you to stay with me."

Kinshin shook her head sadly, glancing in Kakuzu's direction. "I can't. I have something that's too important to let go of."

Naoki followed her eyes and chuckled. "You have an odd relationship with them."

"I know. But it feels right." Before she really knew what was happening, Naoki had leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. She blushed as he pulled back and his eyes fluttered open.

"You'll always have a place here," he told her, letting go of her hands.

"Thank you," she said. Noticing that Kakuzu was leaving without her, she ran to catch up with him, calling back, "Goodbye, Naoki-kun!"

Naoki waved until Kinshin and her criminal were dots going around the bend. He shook his head with an exasperated sigh, "That girl…"

A/N: And here's Chapter Ten, a.k.a. Chapter Nine: Part II.

Vocabulary-
-dono: (-tono) It's like saying "lord" but it doesn't mean nobility. Dono is more respectful than sama.
Naginata: A spear-like weapon.

Song is Beautiful Disaster by Jon McLaughlin