Chapter 14
Blinking slowly, a boy with sky blue hair looked up at the green tarp that was draped a few feet over him. He was warm, full, and very comfortable. Something was up. Looking down at the soft sweater, he suddenly remembered the strange and caring woman from the day before. Blushing, he fingered the sweater just as Kaisa entered the camp site.
"Oh! You're awake! How did you sleep?" The boy smiled sheepishly.
"U-uhm, very well, Kaisa-sama." Kaisa smiled lightly and put down the bundle of vegetables near the cooking pot that contained leftover soup from the previous night. Quickly cutting the vegetables up, and dumping them in the pot, Kaisa quickly rekindled the fire and struck up conversation with the boy.
"Can I still not know what you are called?" The boy dropped his smile and turned away.
"P-please…You're so nice. I don't want you to hate me like they do." Kaisa frowned and stirred the pot.
"I do not think I am like the villagers. You're seven years old. I doubt I could hate you for anything you could do." The boy reddened and tucked himself deeper into his sweater. Kaisa sighed.
"After breakfast, I will take you home. Is that ok?"
"I don't have a home." Kaisa sighed again.
"To where you usually stay?" The boy looked up at Kaisa with his violet eyes and Kaisa sighed again. Handing him his soup, The red head from Suna watched as the boy choked down the food like it was his last meal. After he was finished, Kaisa tidied the camp up, folding the tarp tightly and shoving it into a spare bag, when the boy piped up.
"Can I come with you?" Kaisa stopped, nearly dropping her armload. She studied the boy, and the determined look on his face slightly reminded her of Kouden when they were children. Carefully putting her possessions down, she knelt in front of the boy and put her hands on his skinny shoulders. Brushing his sky blue hair out of his face, Kaisa smiled kindly and said,
"Now why would you want to do that? I am sure someone here would miss you. And besides, where ever I go, there is danger and possibility of death. That is not the life for a growing young boy such as your self." The boy's lips quivered and tears welled up in his eyes.
"It's because I'm a monster, isn't it?" He mumbled. Kaisa's face showed confusion, and the boy pulled himself away from Kaisa.
"What..?" She asked, softly, as not to startle him. When the boy looked up again, his eyes were bleeding gold into the soft violet.
"It's because I'm a monster! That's what they named me, those people, Monster! Is that why you won't take me with you? Why? You showed me kindness, but you're really just like them!" Kaisa was frightened, but intrigued. She raised her hands in a calming gesture, but against better judgement, decided to probe into his problems. Sometimes her curiosity got the better of her.
"W-what do you mean, 'monster'?" She asked, and the boy snarled at her and ran into the woods.
"H-hey! Wait!" She called, chasing after him. Claw marks led the way, as she saw chunks of tree that had been ripped off. Excited almost, Kaisa came upon a clearing where the boy, his previously soft curled hair was ragged and dirty looking. His eyes were still a shining gold, now with slitted pupils, and his fingernails had grown into thin sharp claws. Something about the way that his face was being held, changed how he looked entirely. But the thing that Kaisa noticed the most was a long blue tail made completely of chakra swaying back and forth behind him, and the blazing white seal that was centered on his forehead, with swirling arms reaching out to his cheeks.
"You…you are a Jinchuuriki!" Kaisa exclaimed, all of her previous fear flooding right out of her body. All Kaisa could think of was her luck, now she would have more materials for her book.
"You stink of tanuki, girl." A two toned voice erupted out of the small boys lips, causing Kaisa to jump. Cautiously she stared at the boy, who was now down on all fours, with a second tail starting to bubble around the base of the boy's back.
"I-I…Yes… My father, he is-was, the container of Shukaku…" The boy laughed with his two toned voice, causing the hair on Kaisa's neck to raise.
"Wh-who am I talking to?" The laughter stopped and the boy took on a grin.
"The Nekomata, daughter of tanuki." Kaisa felt heat rise to her face with excitement. She was almost glad that Haneko had disabled her enough to have run into the boy.
"I thought you were killed alongside Nii Yuugito-san when Akatsuki attacked all those years ago." The Nekomata's double voice laughed again and said, harshly,
"Pitiful, ignorant humans. When you kill a spirit lord, we replace them. I had only a few years of succession before a bumbling idiot caught me sleeping, and sealed me into this boy." The boy paused, and seemed to smile sadly.
"At first, I was angry that I had been caught, but after witnessing the constant abuse this poor boy suffered, I offer him, like now, a safe place to hide in his own soul." Kaisa was quiet, not knowing how to respond.
"You are looking for some nins, yes? Take the boy. He needs to experience love at least once in his life. I also grant him with excellent night vision and a decent sense of smell. He would make a great tracker. Take him and get him to aide you on your quest." Kaisa frowned and took another step closer.
"Does he have a name?" The boy looked up at him. Kaisa noticed for the first time that the golden eyes held countless years of wisdom.
"Sora." Kaisa opened her mouth to speak, but instead rushed over to catch Sora's body as the Nekomata released her hold. Sora's eyes fluttered open and Kaisa cradled him in her arms.
"I-I'm sorry… Did I…hurt you?" Kaisa smiled and shook her head. Sora closed his eyes and cuddled close, Kaisa returning the favour stayed until he had cried himself to sleep before packing the rest of her possessions and taking the sleeping boy with her away from the rainy village.
The full week that it took Byakko and Haneko to reach Kusagakure, gave plenty of time for the two teens to bond. Waking up in each others arms, despite Haneko's embarrassed sputters of how it was to preserve warmth, had almost warranted no awkward moments anymore. Haneko regarded Byakko as a good friend, more, but her mind denied her body. She was a Hyuuga born and raised. She knew what a mission was, and what to avoid. As much as she wanted it, she knew that it would be easier on the both of them to ignore his advances. Besides, there was still his beloved Idzuna. She had never even met the girl, and already she held her contempt, blaming her things on her from any situation from meeting an enemy, to stubbing her toe.
Byakko, on the other hand, was utterly confused. He really liked this girl. Really really liked her. He thought that depending on upcoming events, he could see himself spending quite a long time with her, and it scared him. Not enough to ward him away from her, although, he was pretty sure that was why the Hyuuga was trying to ignore his subtle flirts and suggestions. She was mostly likely scared of her father and of the feelings themselves. She had that innocent air about her when it came to him. One thing he could not figure out was why she was so bitter any time Idzuna was mentioned. He was almost afraid to bring her along to rescue the poor girl. Byakko resisted the urge to rub his head, where Idzuna was sure to hit him for one reason or another.
Intent on saving Idzuna and disappearing from Kusa as fast as possible, Byakko and Haneko didn't even bother checking in to an inn to store their possessions. They didn't have much on them anyway. Byakko charged down the large staircase that led to the underground part of Kusagakure, where most of the ninja and population lived.
"Do you know where she is being kept?" Haneko asked, leaning into Byakko's side as they made their way down the large spiral staircase that had been etched into the side of the ravine Kusagakure was located in. Byakko scanned the ravine, skipping over the bright neon signs and looking for the closest brothel.
"She's been sold to a brothel here. That I know. We just need to check them all." Haneko sighed quietly and nodded, separating from the young man.
"Check back here in 2 hours, and we'll see how much ground we can cover." The white haired boy said. Haneko nodded sharply and turned sharply away from the boy and strode down the first street she saw.
Byakko frowned as he left, but his attention was quickly drawn away by the mix of old fashioned signs mixed in with blinking signs. Fortunately, the first sign he saw was one pointing to a brothel. Byakko smirked, covering his chin better with his scarf.
The atmosphere of the place was dingy and dirty, and not at all out of place in the lower section of the underground city. The high end prostitutes were saved for the so called Emperor and his minions to dally with.
An woman whose face was covered in cheap makeup greeted him with a warm smile and empty eyes. Another woman, younger, probably younger than himself, came scurrying up to him, giving him suspicious glances.
"May I help you sir?" She asked politely. Byakko smiled, and said,
"I'm looking for a girl…" The young woman nodded.
"That's usually what our visitors want. Any girl in particular?" Byakko flushed the tinyest bit.
"No, no. I'm looking for a specific girl to talk to, not to… Well, she's about 14, has sandy brown hair and green eyes. Have you seen anyone around like that? She'd be in a brothel here somewhere in Kusa…" The girl was quiet for a minute before saying,
"I know of several girls like that… I can give you the directions to the places they are working. Is that ok?" Byakko gave her a smile and pressed some coins into her hand.
"That's perfect." The girl looked at the coinage in her hand and without blinking tucked them into her cheap and worn obi. Spinning on a heel, she shuffled down the hall, motioning for Byakko to follow her. After scribbling down the names of the brothels and rough directions to each of them, she shoved the paper into Byakko's hands and crossed her arms.
"That's all that I can think of in the lower city. I don't know about the golden land, I've never been there myself. If your little friend isn't in the lower city, she's probably in the golden land." The girl sighed and Byakko said,
"Golden land?" The girl looked at him. "A-ah, I'm not from around here." He quickly explained.
"Ah. Well, Kusagakure is split in two sections, the lower city and the golden land. Most of the villagers live in the lower city, along with most of the lower ranked ninja, like genin and chuunin. Most of the jounin, anbu, and the richer villagers live in the golden land. They say that the streets are made of gold up there…" The girl shook her head wistfully and continued.
"The Emperor lives there along with the imperial family and their servants. I heard it's very difficult to get into the golden land if you aren't a ninja, but even if you are I heard that it's still pretty hard." She paused, scoping Byakko up and down. "Well, good luck finding your girlfriend." Byakko clicked his tongue and left, heading towards the first name and place on the list the girl had scribbled out for him.
Haneko woke as the sun shone directly into her sensitive milky eyes. Groaning and covering her eyes with her arm, she bumped into Byakko, who was still fast asleep beside her. Haneko pushed down a blush, and dismayed at how keeping her face from filling with blood was getting easier and easier everyday. Making sure Byakko was still fast asleep, she quickly changed out of her pyjamas and into the turquoise tank top and sand coloured jeans she had recently purchased with the last of her spare change. Haneko smiled. It felt nice to be wearing something clean and different, for once.
It had been a week since she and Byakko had arrived in Kusagakure, and they had not found any sign of Idzuna, save a man who claimed that he had sold a fiery girl with green eyes to the Emperor himself. Byakko had smashed his face into his hands in frustration. The previous night, Haneko had blown all cover that they had and used her identity as a Hyuuga to get into the golden land. Something Naruto was sure to hear about.
Biting her lip, Haneko knew that they had to find this girl as fast as possible, and get out of Kusagakure, before her father sent someone to investigate. Byakko had told her that Kaisa was close by, probably already in the golden city and keeping an eye on them. Haneko could feel ticklings of Kaisa's chakra brushing the edges of her sensing abilities, and once again admired Byakko's chakra sensing abilities.
Shaking Byakko's shoulder, successfully waking him, Haneko said,
"I'm going to search now. I'll start near the palace and work my way down. I think I'm likely to find more information on… her if I search close to the palace. I'll meet you here in two hours." Byakko nodded sleepily, and Haneko made her way out of the building.
The palace was quite close, but a large crowd that filled the streets made her journey twice as long as it should have been. Blocking out the multiples whispers that jumbled around her, Haneko quickly slipped into the closest brothel to the palace she could see.
A man sat against the back wall, grimacing. Two women dressed in attire that was much richer than the lower part of the city were comforting him. The man let his head fall against the wall and asked Haneko, without even looking at her,
"I'm not accepting anymore girls. Not ever again." Haneko blinked.
"N-no… I'm looking for someone… She has brown hair and green eyes… if you've-" the man let out a laugh that made himself seem older than he looked, and a bit more insane than Haneko was comfortable with. The girls grimaced and looked at Haneko.
"That despicable girl. She's the ruin of me." Haneko frowned.
"What?" The old man coughed and pressed a hand to his stomach.
"I bought her because I needed something pretty to get back in the Emperor's favour, and what does she do?" The old man started coughing, and left his statement unfinished. Haneko hesitated.
"Where-" The old man pointed directly behind Haneko, cutting her off.
"She's probably still at the palace. Tell that little fox that she's responsible for my death." Haneko frowned as the two women fawned over him, reassuring him that he was not going to die.
Looking behind her, Haneko glanced up at the palace, not quite believing her luck.
Or course, by the time she had slipped back onto the streets, the passage to the palace was so crowed, Haneko couldn't even budge her way through. Sighing in exasperation, the Hyuuga finally gave up and walked around, keeping a look out for a way she could get into the palace. She spotted an alley way that looked like it was close enough she could risk a jump over the wall, and started to head towards it, when she bumped into someone walking along the street.
The bump itself was not unusual. She had been bumped many times already today, and kept walking. It was when the person she bumped into grabbed her shoulder, that Haneko whirled around, sliding into the basic jyuuken stance. Once she saw who it was, she relaxed, but only slightly.
"Kaisa-ne-chan!" Kaisa has a determined look on her face as she pulled Haneko's shoulder into a nearby shop. Thankfully, due to everyone on the street, most places were empty, and Kaisa had a chance to talk.
"I'm not going home. I'm still on a mission." Haneko said firmly, just now noticing the little boy hiding behind Kaisa's back. His fingers were gripped firmly in Kaisa's black kimono top.
"I am not here to take you home…yet. I saw that you were trying to get into the palace… Do you know why the people are on the streets?" Haneko paused. In her rush to find Idzuna she hadn't even thought to ask.
"Uhh…" Kaisa shook her head.
"The Emporer was murdered an hour ago, a servant came screaming out of the palace announcing it to the inner city. They locked the doors, claiming that the murderer was still inside. I have been patrolling, and keeping an eye on you, of course." Haneko frowned.
"That's going to make my job a lot harder. My target was inside the palace." Kaisa pursed her lips.
"Listen, I'm meeting Byakko at the golden gates in…about an hour and a half. Can you meet us there? I really need to do this… If you see him before then, tell him that I found Idzuna." Kaisa barely had time to nod before Haneko slipped out the door.
Pushing through people to cross the street again towards the alley, Haneko almost screamed with relief when she could breath again. The alley was dark, dank, and pretty creepy. Not that it deterred her. Looking up at the end, she saw that she could climb one of the buildings, and the jump to the wall was only a few feet.
Although she was sure the guards had been doubled, and…ugh. This job was becoming harder and harder.
As Haneko squatted to think, she heard a scrabbling noise from above her. Looking up, a figure sailed down past her. Haneko automatically grabbed the figure and swung it around so that it landed abruptly, but without too much damage. The figure let out a surprised squeak, before quickly standing up and falling into a rough, but, as Haneko saw after a moment, a well used fighting stance.
In the dim light of the alley way, Haneko saw that the figure was a girl, about her height, wearing a ripped and tattered kimono. Her geta wearing feet clattered on the cobblestone as she moved them into a more precise stance. Her long sandy brown hair looked like it had been done up in an elaborate style, but half of it was hanging out, and the rest of it looked like it was barely hanging on. The green of her eyes pierced into Haneko's lavender irises and Haneko was hit with a sudden realization.
"I-Idzuna?" The girl looked startled, and her stance almost dropped. That action was all Haneko needed to prove the truth in her statement, and she rushed forward, tapping the tenketsu in her forehead that would shut her body down for a few minutes. Idzuna's body slumped, and Haneko quickly flipped her onto her shoulder.
Turning back into the crowd, she saw Kaisa and the boy, still clinging onto the back of her top, just starting to leave down the street. Haneko quickly caught up. Grabbing Kaisa's shirt, she ignored the stares she was getting.
"Plan changed, my target landed right into my lap… Quick, I know that you used something special to track Byakko, do you know where he is now?" Kaisa blinked and nodded, pointing in the direction the inn that they were staying at was. Haneko rolled her eyes at her lazy team-mate, and nodded.
"Quickly, quickly." She said shuffling as fast as her body would let her with the extra weight.
Byakko stretched and stepped out of the inn's door, only to be met face to face with a flustered Haneko, Kaisa, a strange little boy, and an unconscious girl on Haneko's shoulder. Byakko blinked, and Haneko dumped the girl into his arms.
"I found your Idzuna, now let's go. The Emperor was assassinated, and they are going to lock the gates down." Byakko nodded, and hefted Idzuna on to his back, studying the girls face. He noted a few bruises that were healing, and resolved to ask her questions when she woke.
Luckily, the guards at the inner gates were so busy trying to prevent riots in the crowds, that they didn't notice the several groups of shady looking people leaving as quietly as possible. Haneko noted that most of them were Shinobi, and deduced that it was probably one of them that had done the killing.
Shaking the thought out of her head, Haneko just focused on her now activated Byakugan's abilities to get her little menagerie out of Kusagakure, and back on the road towards…where ever Byakko would say next.
End Chapter 14
Gahhh computer problems suck, but the random restarts seem to have died to minimum. Bad thing is I have a Trojan worm in my system32 file, so I'm going to have to reformat anyway, as that's the only way to fix it :I
But this means that I wont lose everything : ) ((by moving it onto another computer))
Mog