Kiba stared up at the projection. He did not believe what he had heard. Akamaru whined, nudging Kiba's thigh with his nose.
"Shiromaru…" Kiba whispered, looking down at his loyal companion. Everyone had turned their attention to the Inuzuka male when they had heard Hotaru's confession.
"Did you know, Kiba?" Hinata asked.
"No. No one ever said anything." He replied. Outrage began to grow inside him. "She was one of our own, dammit! How could we just forget one of our own like that!?"
"You weren't given the choice." Choji answered. "She bore the Akimichi name, so she would be raised as an Akimichi."
"That's idiotic. She's every bit Inuzuka as she is Akimichi! We should have been allowed to -" Kiba yelled, but was cut off.
"Choji has a point." Shikamaru argued.
"Of course you would take his side!" The Inuzuka snapped.
"I'm not taking anyone's side, Kiba. If her mother had survived and it was her father who died, Hotaru would have been raised in the Inuzuka clan, and you know it."
"She could have at least been allowed to keep the dog…" Sakura added.
"If the Akimichi kept Shiromaru, Akamaru wouldn't have been born." Kiba said, patting his best friend on the head. "Shiromaru was his sire." The large dog barked in agreement.
"Then something good did come out of it." Hinata said, trying to comfort her friend.
Their attention was suddenly snapped back to Ino and her projections as the blonde let out a solitary gasp.
"What is it?"
"Oh no…" Ino mumbled to herself.
***4 weeks, 4 days previous ***
"Hotaru!" One of the other fighters called out to the tall woman. She was in her quarters, slowly preparing for her battle. Turning to the man, she grunted in reply. Hotaru grabbed her bō, and made her way to the arena gates.
"Where is Hajime?" She asked, looking around her for her lover.
"Hell if I know." The man said, pushing the gates apart. The Akimichi girl pulled her knee length hair into a bun on top of her head.
Hotaru stepped out into the harsh light of the caged arena. Like her very first fight, there were no obstacles that she or her opponent could hide behind. She kicked up some sand walking into the arena full of grace and arrogance. This would be her 497th opponent.
Yoshiro had told her that gamblers came from distant countries just to watch the woman fight. There weren't many ninjas in their underground world, and people paid good money to see the master combatants. Amazing battles could always be expected from captured nin.
Her owner's words rang through her head as she thought of that fateful night seven years ago. 'Main Event.' Hotaru had no idea what those words meant back then. But now, she was Yoshiro's meal ticket. He made more money off one of her fights than he could in three years of Hajime's before he retired.
When she stepped into the arena, she could feel eyes from the private boxes boring into her. Hoisting her bō over her head, she roared at the gamblers. She sent a burst of chakra through her making the devilish blades jump out of the wooden weapon. She hated showboating, but she gave the investors what they wanted. And they wanted a cruel, blood thirsty warrior intent on taking as many lives as she could.
She was too caught up in her own showmanship to notice that her opponent had entered the arena. Inside their private boxes, Hotaru felt the onlooker's shock as they stared at the young woman's enemy. Many of the onlookers where long time gamblers, and knew that tonight's match was going to be one for the history books, but they could have never imagined this.
Hotaru turned around to see her opponent. The sight terrified her. She dropped her bo, causing the bloodthirsty blades to retreat. Any rush of adrenaline she had felt left her body, causing her to become nauseous. An excessively tall man with hair so black it was blue and fierce obsidian eyes stood before her. He wore a yellow yukata - it matched her eyes - that had fallen open at his chest, revealing the black curse mark that bound him to the complex. Yoshiro had placed it on him ten years earlier.
The man was a legend among the denizens who gambled in Yoshiro's house. Tonight's battle was to determine who was stronger; the master or the student.
"No." Hotaru whimpered. Hajime slowly walked toward the girl. A sad smile crossed his face as Hajime reached out to touch her. He clasped her cheek in his hand and traced the white lightning bolts with his thumb.
"I'm sorry, Hotaru." He whispered to her. "I wish it could have ended differently for us."
"We don't have to do this!" Hotaru urgently beseeched him. "We can fight back. We can get away -"
"You know that we can't. If we could, we would have run away a long time ago."
The two opponents stood together, wishing the arena away. They stared into each other's eyes, hoping that if they stood still long enough, they would both be allowed to leave.
Hajime's fierce eyes softened as a smile played across his face. "I remember the night you got this…" He whispered, pulling his fingers along the scar on Hotaru's right cheek. "I thought I was going to burst through the cage and kill that man. I was so angry and scared and… I just wanted to take you away from here. I should have never brought you here. It's because of me -"
"Don't." She interrupted. "What's done is done."
"Hotaru…" Hajime cooed lovingly. "Forgive me." The man pressed his forehead against hers. The heat he radiated forced Hotaru to close her eyes. She knew what he was prepared to do. Hajime would kill her and end her seven year hell. Hotaru would not accept defeat from anyone other than the large man. She knew that if neither of them killed one another, they both would be taken out. But the thought of killing Hajime hurt her soul too much to move.
Hajime slowly removed his hands from Hotaru's face. She could feel him take a kunai from the pack on her left hip. Tears flooded her closed, yellow eyes, anticipating the pain she was about to feel. Hajime's forehead disconnected from Hotaru. She was ready to die. A sharp point gently came to rest on her chest, above her heart. It stayed itself, lightly pushing through her clothes. Hotaru could feel the knife tremble in Hajime's hand before the pressure of it disappeared from her skin.
"It's okay." Hotaru said. Her eyes were still closed as she reached out to touch him. If she had to, Hotaru would guide the knife he held into her heart. But her hands could not find the man. She opened her eyes just as Hajime stabbed the kunai into his own chest. Hajime slumped to the ground. He hit the sandy floor with a solid thud.
"No!" Hotaru yelled. She fell to her knees beside him. "What have you done? What have you done!?"
In a frenzy, Hotaru, pulled the knife from his chest and began performing what little medical jutsu Tendo had taught her. Hajime's hands grabbed at hers, breaking the chakra flow.
"Stop it!" She spat, throwing her hands out of his. Hotaru tried to perform medical jutsus on him repeatedly, but every time she did he would pull her hands away. With dying curiosity, he examined the girl's hands.
"You were so small…" He said weakly. He brought her fingers to his lips and softly kissed the calloused pads of her fingertips.
"You're just a beast." Hotaru laughed. Finally understanding that he would not let her save him. Hotaru pulled the large man into her lap. She cradled his bloody body in her arms, absently twirling his hair between his fingers.
"Forgive me. "
"I will always forgive you." Hotaru replied. Hajime tried to keep talking, but Hotaru could see that his life was quickly leaving him. Before he left her forever, Hotaru silenced him. She gently placed her lips atop his. Weakly, Hajime kissed her back. A tear fell from Hotaru, landing on the apple of Hajime's cheek. Her fingers snaked their way along his scalp, clutching a mass of black hair. Hotaru pulled away as Hajime breathed out his last piece of life.
Tears rolled from her eyes as she screamed at him. She pulled his head to her chest, and clung to his lifeless body. The only noise to be heard in the arena was the angry cries of a woman who had finally lost everything. Loud, guttural screams echoed from the girl as she pleaded for the man in her arms to come back.
"Please…" She whimpered once she had exhausted her voice. "Please. Please don't leave me!" Hotaru pulled his head away from her body, and clutched his face. "Don't leave me!" She violently shook the man. He only lay limp in her arms.
Pulling him back into her body, she cried, "Don't leave me…"
Hotaru grabbed the knife Hajime had used to kill himself. She didn't care how badly the curse seal on her ribs burned her, she was going to join Hajime. Hotaru managed to raise the knife to her chest before the seal activated.
She didn't feel any pain when the seal came to life. Only blackness. One second she was awake and ready to kill herself. Then next, she was rendered unconscious. Hotaru collapsed on top of Hajime's thick body. Her pale skin stained by his blood.
Hotaru woke two days later in her cell. She rolled onto her side, expecting the large man and his futon to be next to her, but her hand felt nothing but the cold, stone floor. Eyes fluttering open, Hotaru scanned the room to see all traces of Hajime were gone. He had unofficially moved into her quarters, but none of his few possessions remained. He had never existed.
Tears welled in her eyes as she took in the sight of it all. She had to blink them away to see, but she did not cry. A noise came from the doorway, startling the upset women.
"That was very foolish of you." Yoshiro said. He was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed across his chest, smirking at Hotaru. "What made you think killing yourself would work?"
Ignoring Yoshiro's question, Hotaru looked about her room. She almost believed that if she searched hard enough she would see some remnant of Hajime. Yoshiro walked into the room. He grabbed Hotaru's chin and pulled her face toward his.
The older man was centimeters from her face. His hot breath burned her lips. "I asked a question." He whispered.
"You took me from my team. You took me from my home. You took my freedom and hope. And now you've taken Hajime. I will make you pay for this." Hotaru hissed before spitting on the man. Yoshiro slapped the girl across the face. But, he was much weaker than he looked. Despite hitting the girl as hard as he could, her head barely moved. She pulled out the small kunai from under her futon.
Hotaru stood up, towering over Yoshiro. She took an intimidating step toward the man who claimed to own her. The wolfish side of her had been released. She was stalking her prey now, ready to kill at a moments notice. A crazed smile snaked across her face, baring her teeth. A feral growl escaped from her throat while she moved gracefully towards him. Yoshiro tripped as he backed up and fell to the floor. The tall woman bent over him, taking hold of his collar and pulling him toward her.
"I have nothing left to loose." She snarled and pushed the kunai against Yoshiro's throat. "And I will kill you."
He was in no position to argue with the fierce girl, but Yoshiro was stupid enough to talk back. "You can't. A-as long as the seal is intact -"
Before Yoshiro could finish his sentence, Hotaru jabbed the knife into the side of her stomach, just under her last rib, and pulled the blade around to her back. She cut the seal in two. Yoshiro stared into the cadmium eyes. There was no fear or pain in those yellow orbs. Only a wild huntress preparing to make a kill.
"Guess it's broken now." Hotaru laughed as she pulled the kunai out of her body. The bloody blade raked against Yoshiro's neck. "Any last words?" She hummed, waiting for a moment she had been dreaming of for seven years.
"If you do this, you'll be a heartless murderer. Do you really think Hajime would want that?" Yoshiro tried to reason with the crazed woman. She merely smiled, lips curling away from her teeth. No one had ever noticed that her canines were quite a bit longer than the rest of her teeth.
"You made me into a murderer." Hotaru exclaimed with a righteous growl. She bore the kunai down on the man's neck. A small trickle of blood ran down his throat to his chest. "But don't assume I am heartless. It's because of this heart that I am going to kill you."
"You can't -" Yoshiro began to say just as Hotaru drew her blade across his throat. Blood gushed from the wound, spilling across her hands and cascading onto the stone floor. Hotaru dropped the bleeding man to the ground.
"Not interested." Hotaru uttered, stepping over the man's dying body. She grabbed the bō that Hajime had given her and walked out of her cell for the last time. Some of the other fighters were staring into Hotaru's quarters in complete shock and awe.
The pain from the wound on her side made the girl limp, but she walked proudly through the underground maze. If Tendo had still been alive, he would have tried to stop her and heal her wounds. But he had died when Hotaru was 17 years old. His passing was the final straw that broke Hotaru. After he died, she stopped talking all together. The other fighters whispered amongst themselves as she walked through the complex.
"Did she actually kill him?"
"But how? She was sealed?"
"What happened to her stomach?"
"Did Yoshiro do that to her?"
No one tried to stop her as she casually walked out of that hell hole. She had earned her freedom. Bought it back with blood and seven years of her life. Most were too afraid of the woman to try to stop her. They could see there was something different about her from her normal demeanor. She wasn't the quiet girl she had been. The woman before them stood with the pride and majesty of an alpha wolf. They were afraid if they tried to stop her, she would rip them apart with her bare teeth. Others were sure that once she reached the outside, her second seal would prevent her from going any further. She pulled the large doors open and breathed deep.
The air from the outside world filled her lungs. It was fresh and clean compared to the dank lifeless air that stagnated in her subterranean home. The sweet breeze that carried the air to her brought life into her sorrowful heart.
Cautiously, Hotaru walked out of the complex and waited. She waited, for what seemed like hours, for the seal to condemn her to return to the dreaded complex. But nothing happened. Deciding that the seal was officially broken, Hotaru began walking away.
She came to a clearing where the early summer sun was gently warming a field. She stood in the sunshine, taking in a warmth she had not felt in seven years. The breeze calmed the young Akimichi woman. She wished to stay in the meadow forever, but the pain in her side brought her back to reality. Hotaru applied a little medical jutsu to calm the pain from her wound.
She started walking again. Using her bō as a crutch she moved north. When Yoshiro and Hajime carried her to the complex, they headed south from Konoha. She walked for two days before collapsing. While she had managed to numb the pain she felt, the bleeding would not stop. She fell to the ground and was on the verge of passing out.
"Kakashi!" A distant voice called out, pulling her momentarily back into reality.
"Kakashi?" Hotaru knew that name. Somewhere in her memory, she knew that name. Four figures appeared in Hotaru's periphery. In the dark of the night, Hotaru could faintly make out a head of pale pink hair. "Sakura?" She said weakly.
"How does she know you?" An unfamiliar voice asked.
"Look at the markings on her cheeks!" An energetic male's voice said as the people drew closer.
"Konoha. Akimichi." Hotaru whispered as she pulled a piece of purple fabric from the pack on her hip. The four stalked closer to Hotaru finally coming into focus. A tall, gray haired man was flanked by a blond boy with large cerulean eyes, a skinny girl with pale pink hair, and an inexplicably pale boy with eyes like Hajime. They all wore the forehead protector of her home village.
"Oh my…" The girl sighed, taking the fabric from Hotaru's limp hand. The golden embroidery shone as brightly as it had the day Hotaru had received it. "N-Naruto…" Sakura mumbled, tracing her fingers around the gold crest. "This was Hotaru's."
"Naruto." Hotaru whispered. She knew that name. She had cherished the friendship she had had with that name. With a smirk, she sighed his catchphrase, "Dattebayo!"
"She's wounded." Kakashi pointed out to the kunoichi medic. Sakura handed the fabric to the Uzumaki boy, and started to inspect the deep wound on Hotaru's left side.
"We need to get her to Konoha as soon as possible." Sakura said. She gently placed her hands above Hotaru's side to begin administering first aid.
"Do what you can for now." Kakashi replied as he summoned his favorite pug. Trusting that these four could bring her home, Hotaru finally let herself blackout.