Dispatching the sentries atop the wall had been no difficult feat, a quick fling of my wrist and a flash of metal and they were down, hit too hard and fast to even utter a sound, all of them were dead before they hit the ground. Killing the sentries had been my only option; I certainly wasn't going to use the front door. Because they had been standing watch atop the wall, there had to be an entrance to the fortress there and I leapt from my perch in the trees to the wall, striding past the bodies, and activating my Sharingan.
The door was located in the far right of the roof, and I slipped through it, coming to a stone spiral staircase, lit by torchlight. Carefully, I descended the stairs, listening for any kind of movement, any sign someone was approaching. There was none.
Once I reached the bottom, the screams grew louder, more intense, but I was met with no opposition, the halls were deserted, I assumed the men were all too busy in their disgusting practices and too sure of their own defenses to patrol the halls. However, noting the massive size of the place, finding Dante was going to be an arduous task, especially if I wanted to stay undetected.
I wasn't certain if my Sharingan would be able to see the heat registers of the people behind the doors, and if it could, then finding her might not be so difficult.
I ventured through the halls, the heat signatures were faint, but discernible and after two hours of searching and finding nothing, I came upon the last hall. I had gotten about half way down when a voice spoke behind me.
"You, halt."
I stopped, but didn't turn to face him. I waited until he grew closer before I whipped around and slid a kunai into the skin under his jaw. With a soft gurgle he crumpled to the ground, and I continued on my way. The guard hadn't been unusual like the traffickers I had come in contact with when Dante was abducted. That meant they either were not here, or they were the ones in the rooms, performing the torture.
At the end of the final hall, there was a flight of stairs, having no other option, I took it. On the landing there was a short hall and then a single door that opened to an armory whose walls and tables were lined with ordinary weaponry as well wicked looking weapons and tools whose use I could only begin to imagine. Adjoining the armory was a medium sized map room, which I paid little attention to.
I ventured out of the armory and closed the door behind me. I shut my eyes and clenched my jaw. She wasn't here. If not here, then where? Finding answers would mean a fight, and I these traffickers were to type to die before relaying information to the enemy. I began to make my way back to the other side of the building, to the flight of stairs that led to the door a top the fortress, only sticking to the shadows, and taking extreme caution. As I rounded a corner, voices floated over to me, and I stopped to listen.
"We're as much prisoners as those broads behind the doors. Never gonna leave, and you'd best realize that." A deep male voice said in a low tone.
"I know. But what about that girl they brought a few days ago? Why was she taken away? I thought once they were here, they were never supposed to leave?"
The second voice wasn't as deep, suggesting adolescence, obviously a new recruit. I remained silent and still, listening intently.
The man sighed heavily before answering.
"She's special. I don't know why, they don't give me no reasons; alls' I know is she's special to the big boss. The lackey's only stopped here to check in and for supplies. They're taking her to Fire Country."
"Why Fire?" The boy interrupted.
"That's where the boss lives. She's the second one now that they've taken. He needs 'em for some special reason. He's in line with the Daimyou, they run this biz, hand in hand. There's big bucks in the black market."
I had heard enough, stepping out from the shadows; I made quick business with them and had my katana back in its sheath before they hit the ground.
I did my best to keep my flaring anger in check, but it was slipping out, I didn't want to make my presence known, but the things that were going on here were disgusting and unignorable and I was going to do something about it.
The fortress had held no answers, only more questions. Dante hadn't been there and in my anger I had killed them all, the odd traffickers themselves were completely absent. It had been a dire mistake and now I had no way of knowing the location of any of the other hideouts, and couldn't tap into their minds to see if any of them had knowledge of her true whereabouts.
I cursed and wiped my katana on the body of a dead shinobi and replaced it in its sheath. Where I would go from here I didn't know, and I'd be damned it were going to go back to Orochimaru for help like some helpless child.
I worked for about ten minutes setting up barriers around a small clearing about fifty yards from the fortress and set up camp. I was far too exhausted to continue for another night, not to mention I needed to figure out which direction I needed to go and right now I was facing a brick wall. This entire ordeal thoroughly pissed me off.
Feeling the adrenaline from the anger and battle begin to wear off, I sat beneath an ancient ash, feeling the deep ache of exhaustion and over use of chakra settle into my bones. Not knowing what else to do, I went over the facts. Dante had been taken from Crescent Moon Island nearly a week ago by organ traffickers; a deadly faction with God knows how many hideouts. Upon returning to Oto to seek information from Orochimaru I found out their nearest bunker was here in in Water country. A thorough search of the fortress had turned up nothing but more dead ends and more questions. Questions I couldn't answer because I had killed all my chances of discovering the answers.
Despite looking at it at every angle I could think of, nothing jumped out at me, absolutely nothing. I felt the flare of hot anger boil up again and I massaged my temples, trying to ward off the massive headache I could feel building up.
Evening soon turned to night and humid heat turned to raw cold, but I didn't care. I didn't bother to try and build a fire, or get any sleep; my mind was far too detached, too caught up in finding a solution. I went over everything replayed every moment in my head again and again, from when we launched ourselves out the window of that hotel to the moment I killed the last of the shinobi and released the prisoners. And then it hit me. The two ninja, before I had taken care of them, they had been talking about a girl brought to the fortress but then taken somewhere else. They had mentioned the Daimyou of the Fire Country. Could they have been talking about Dante? There was a good chance, but did I take the risk? I would have to there was no other option, no other lead. I hadn't paid much attention the men's conversation because I hadn't thought it relevant.
If I left in the morning, it would take me four days to reach Fire, however if I left now I could cut it down a day. I had rested for a good two hours already, but my chakra levels were still dwindling, if I were to run into trouble…
I didn't think taking care of general patrol ninja would take too much effort, but this was Fire, highly dangerous territory and I was at the top of the bingo book. Going behind enemy lines would take some planning. Running after a lead I wasn't one hundred percent sure of could cause some real trouble and if Tsunade had ANBU patrolling the border—and no doubt she did—on account of the Akatsuki threat, I'd have to seek a map and single out blind spots. If the shift change schedule had stayed the same, I could enter during a squad change, but it would have to be very precise, I'd have to enter and be out of ANBU range undetected within two minutes . It would be difficult, but not impossible.
I sighed and got to my feet. I circled the clearing and released the barriers before making my way back to the fortress. There had been that map room and I was confident they'd have detailed maps of Fire.
The building was still and silent, the only sound was my shoes against the concrete. The map room had taken much less time to reach since I didn't need to move with caution any longer. Upon reaching the room, I scanned it. Huge maps of individual countries as well as world maps covered the walls. They varied from road maps to showing climate patterns.
Shelves upon shelves were full of scrolls, most likely individual cities, ranging from small to relatively large. It must've taken years to amass this kind of collection.
Above the large table that stood against the far wall were intricately detailed maps of the five major countries. Fire, Wind, Water, Earth and Lightning. Striding over I pulled the Fire map from the wall and spread it out on the table. I ran my eyes along the border, making note of regular shinobi stations as well as possible new ones. I then turned my attention to the cities, starting at Konoha and working my way out, searching for Kaname, the Daimyou's residential city.
Luckily the city was as far from Konoha as was allowed, it was about five kilometers from the western border. This might be easier than I suspected.
Having all the information I needed, I folded up the map and tucked it under my shirt, with the possibility I would need it later. I traveled the route I had used to get here, avoiding that shit hole of a village and Amegakure and stopped in a small lake side village for provisions and couple hours sleep before starting on my way again. Within the next day and a half I had reached the border of Fire and Rain and slowed my pace.
I took up watch in a tree, just short of the border itself, awaiting a merchant or a farmer transporting goods. Entering without a strong henge would be suicide. If I entered Fire country as I was, there'd be no doubt I'd be recognized. I even strayed from the larger villages in Rain with the possibility I'd be recognized, because Konoha was powerful enough to force and extradition should I be captured.
At sunset a merchant, leading a cart and a mule meandered by and I waited until he was few yards past my station before I ambushed him and snared him under the Sharingan.
"What's you name." I questioned, and he stared back at me with blank eyes and a drawn expression.
"Kuro, Meng."
"Do you have your transportation and customs papers?"
"Yes."
And with that, I released the hypnosis Justus and he collapsed to the ground. I pulled him and cart from the road, back into denser wood, where we wouldn't be seen.
Before I began the process of a third level henge, I searched his pack, finding the necessary papers inside and then stripped him of his clothes and changed, hiding my own under the large packs of feed. Once the sun had set, and night fell I began the justu. Because it was a third level henge, it would take nearly four hours to complete because of the depth of the illusion, even at my advanced level.
Four hours later, I removed my hand from the man's face, and brought it to my own. The change was solid. My skin was the color of cinnamon and my hair only a few shades darker and cropped short. I waited until morning before I emerged from the trees, leading the cart and mule with me. After I had finished the justu, I had snapped the man's neck and left him for the vultures. As much as I'd have preferred not to kill him, I couldn't have risk him exposing me.
Once I passed the border, I was stopped by Hidden Leaf ANBU, as suspected. One wore the mask of a hawk and the other, a dog. They appeared in the road a few feet ahead of me, and approached.
"Ah, Meng how good to see you!" The man in the dog mask shouted, giving me a good slap on the back.
I nodded in response and smiled, hoping they'd do most of the talking.
"I take it you had some good sales this year?" The hawk mask asked this time.
Again I nodded, "Not too bad, things have been steady."
Both men nodded, and dog mask spoke again.
"Well Meng, we hate to ask you every time, but we do need to see those identification papers and transport permits, standard procedure, you understand." Dog mas said in a thoughtful voice.
Meng had obviously been to Fire many times, and nodding, I pulled the papers from the pack and handed them over.
"Of course, there you are." I replied.
Skimming over them and nodding, he handed them back.
"Everything's in order, like usual, we'll let you be on your way. Say hello to the wife and kids when you get home."
And with that they were gone. I wondered if Meng's family would question Fire when he didn't return home. I didn't worry about for very long, he was a merchant, he traveled for six months out of the year, it would be a while before they noticed anything awry.
I had five kilometers to cover and walking speed. What a tedious task, but necessary, I judged it would take me until probably midday to reach Kaname.
The city was beautiful and well kept, which wasn't a surprise since it was the home of the nobles and seat of feudal power. Customs hadn't taken long to get through, Meng was very well known and very well liked apparently. The lady had barely glanced at them before handing them back and telling me to go ahead in with a smile.
Pulling the cart into a small side street next to a stable, I put my clothes in the pack and tied the katana to my waist, a merchant with a weapon wasn't uncommon, they had to have protection against bandits. I unhitched the mule from the cart and left it in the stable before I made my towards the Daimyou's palace.
I decided I would start there, I didn't have many details and there were virtually no questions I could ask, this black market, organ trafficking that the Daimyou was involved in wouldn most definitely not be public knowledge.
After about a ten minute walk, the palace loomed, tacky and lavish. People milled about in expensive clothing, chatting about the weather or the next council meeting. I scanned the areas around the palace but found nothing that caught my eye.
I took a small patch leading up and away from the palace, towards a smaller, but no less grand manor atop a hill in the distance. The path was lined with Sakura trees, already in full bloom, the scent sweet and mild in the air, and petals littering the ground.
As I drew closer and closer to the house, I wasn't sure what it was that drew me to it, but it was somehow different, somehow…strange. The architecture was slightly different from the rest of the manors and estates in the city, it was very subtle, but I noticed nonetheless.
As I walked along the garden fence, movement caught my eye. A girl, with her back to me, was practicing a session of yoga beneath a plum tree, her movements fluid, lithe and graceful. Her hair was dark and long, reaching her lower back. Completing a set of exercises, she stood and turned, bending down to pick something up from the grass.
She pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, and then cast her gaze up, straight at me.
My breath caught in my lungs and my eyes widened. Her eyes were clear, sharp, and the color of liquid gold.