Chapter twenty one
I'm really sorry to update so late! Thursday I had an accident and between the doctor, my friends, my family and my aching palm (crutches are a pain to walk with), I didn't have time.
Sorry again!
A message for Sukki18: your character is appearing again in this chapter! I'm not sure if your internet problems are solved, but I hope you'll like it when you read.
Anyways, here's the 21th chapter. Please enjoy!
In the previous chapter:
"We don't have enough time to infiltrate the shiro and gather information." The boy mused out loud "And scanning the area around the shiro for escape route and patrols will take some time too."
"Then we'll split." Damaru proposed "One will map the area around the shiro while another gather informations in the shiro."
{…}
Itachi was busy inspecting a pass between two mountains when he felt someone approaching.
He saw Gin's ears perk up, but since the wolf didn't growl, he assumed it was someone they knew.
Soon enough Yuki appeared, panting lightly as she climbed the rocky path to them.
She accepted Itachi's caresses before going to lie next to Gin.
"I take that Damaru's infiltration plan was a success." Itachi guessed.
Yuki nodded and Itachi fished out his gourd to offer water.
The white lupine gladly drank it before laying her head down, closing her eyes for a short nap.
Itachi gestured to Gin to stay there and went to inspect further the gorge.
Yes, he was worried about Damaru, the girl always present in a part of his mind.
But he had learned his lesson. He would have faith in her.
'Trust and respect.'
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Damaru settled her futon in the room where all the maids slept together, deep in thoughts.
She was given a quick tour of the shiro by the headmistress, mostly to show her where she would clean.
The white haired girl had to admit that they weren't idiots. The places she had to clean where far away from the lord's quarter or even the soldier's shacks.
It could be a bit handicapping, but at the same time she was able to detect many escape route and convenient places to hide.
All was left was to exactly pinpoint where the scroll was.
She could always…
"Excuse me?" Someone behind her asked "Is this place free?"
Damaru turned to come face to face with familiar grey eyes.
The two girls stared at each other in surprise for a moment before Damaru took notice of the dangerous situation she was in.
"O-Of course." She answered, still personifying her role "Th-There are plenty of places."
Tazuki blinked before understanding, and smiled before settling beside her.
They engaged conversation, presenting each other with, of course, fake names.
While they talked, Tazuki turned her eyes subtly to the door leading outside. It was clear that she wanted them to go outside.
With an equally subtle shake of her head, Damaru indicated that it wasn't a good idea. They may know each other as Tazuki and Damaru, but their covers didn't, and an immediate friendship would be suspicious.
Tazuki understood and wished her goodnight before burrowing herself under her covers.
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"So?" Tazuki whispered "Are you going to tell me?"
They were busy scrubbing the parquetted floor of a faraway alley of the shiro. Almost no one came here.
"My teammate and I came here to retrieve a scroll."
"Me too." Tazuki replied gravely.
There was a tense silence before Damaru sighed.
"Okay." She said, still checking the volume of her voice "I don't want to fight you. You saved my life. So, we're going to tell which scroll we're after and we'll work something from there."
Tazuki nodded before saying:
"I'm going after an ancient scroll describing where to get an ancient battle fan. Actually it's more a map than anything."
"It's not the scroll we're after." Damaru sighed in relief before sending the scarlet head a curious look "Don't you already have a battle fan?"
At her question, Tazuki's eyes literally lit up and she launched herself in a full explanation.
"When I was still training with sensei." She explained "He was always ranting about a set of fans belonging to a deceased high ranked Suna kunoichi. The one I have is one of them. It took me almost a full year of research, but I'm finally nearing my goal."
Damaru nodded before proposing:
"How about we combine our efforts? The scrolls are surely in the same room, near the lord's apartment. Together, we should be faster than if we're alone."
Tazuki thought about it before nodding. Damaru smiled.
The deal was sealed.
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Itachi was waiting in the trees, ready to activate his plan.
Beside him, Yuki and Gin were also alert, their eyes never leaving the shiro below them.
When the first explosion fired, Itachi motioned to the wolves who darted forward.
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Damaru finished putting the last seal bomb on the wall, under the curious eyes of Tazuki.
"I was always curious about seals." The red head commented "But my sensei wasn't proficient with it and I never found any book I could read."
"If I could I would lend you some." Damaru said "But it seems a bit complicated."
The white haired girl finished her work and the two fell silent.
They discarded their kimonos and dropped them onto the floor before exiting the room, their usual ninja clothes already underneath their uniforms.
Damaru went into a series of hand seals and the bombs exploded.
They screamed for good measure before putting a genjutsu on themselves, becoming invisible.
They went to the lord's room and waited until he went out before slipping in to search the room.
"Oookaaayyy." Tazuki hesitantly said once the found where the scrolls were hidden "Is this a joke?"
The library containing the scrolls was…hidden behind simple curtain.
"I…don't know." Damaru anwered hesitantly, picking up the scroll Itachi and she were given a mission for, checking if it was the right one "But this one doesn't seem to be a copy."
"Let's get out of here." Tazuki decided, grabbing the scroll she was here for.
Damaru nodded before making a hand seal, triggering another explosion.
They got out of the shiro as silently as possible, covering each other while advancing in the corridors.
They met up with Yuki and then Gin before being led to Itachi.
Said boy raised an eyebrow seeing Tazuki with Damaru but didn't question it when the white haired girl announced she was with her.
"There's a valley not far away." He said "We can escape there."
"Let's go then." Damaru said, turning to Tazuki "Do you want to come with us?"
"Sorry, but I have my own way out." The red haired girl refused gently before fishing out a scroll "Here, this is for you."
"What is it?" Damaru asked curiously, taking it.
"Well." Tazuki explained "You remember we talked about communicating? Well with this scroll you can summon one of my animal messengers. Like that you can send me messages, and if I want to contact you I'll send one too. Is that okay?"
"Thanks a lot." Damaru smiled, putting the scroll away "I would have liked to give you something in exchange…"
"No need." Tazuki replied "I was glad to have someone to talk to, at least for a little while. I admit it gets a bit lonely when you're a wanderer."
"No problem. Don't hesitate to send news of you from time to time."
"Only if you do the same."
"We have to go." Itachi interrupted, his sharingan eyes riveted toward the shiro.
Damaru nodded and waved at Tazuki before following Itachi, the wolves on their heels.
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"Are you sure you can trust this Tazuki girl?" Itachi asked as they walked down the road.
"Yes." Damaru answered confidently "I like her."
"And because you like her, you trust her?"
"Exactly."
Itachi blinked, stared at her, blinked again, and decided to not push the matter.
Damaru breathed in, looking up to the cloudy but sunny sky. The spring was well settled in now, and flowers were blooming in an explosion of colours and shapes.
She jumped to doge the kunais sent her way while Itachi threw his own.
A painful cry resonated in the forest before two men walked out. One was bleeding.
"So now Konoha sends children and their mutts to do missions?" The uninjured one mocked, getting a kunai out.
Gin and Yuki growled, ready to attack, but waiting for their partners' signals.
"They're probably chuunin or guenin ranked ninjas." Itachi observed casually, noticing the slash on their forehead protector "I didn't see them in the bingo book for ANBU and jonin ninjas."
"So we have a reasonable chance to beat them." Damaru concluded for him.
"Hn." Itachi agreed "Since they're older than us and probably chuunins level, their teamwork has a chance to be better than ours."
"So one on one with Gin and Yuki?"
"Don't go far from me and if one of us has a problem, we flee."
"Like we're gonna let you flee." One of the men sneered "Prepare to die."
Itachi and Damaru didn't have to choose their opponent. The injured one rushed to Damaru while the other went for Itachi.
They had to separate a bit to have some fighting ground but stayed within hearing distance of each other.
Damaru ducked under the man's guard, letting Yuki clamp her jaws around his forearm.
The man screamed in pain, retreating a few steps back.
Damaru took the advantage and, drawing out a kunai, rushed to him.
What she didn't anticipate was that her opponent could be faster than her.
He recovered from the pain and, as she stepped near him, bent down.
On instinct, seeing the man about to hit her, Damaru gripped her kunai tighter and slashed upwards.
She intended to cut the cheek, or a shoulder, but the man was faster.
He fell down on his back, a red river springing out of his slitted throat.
When Itachi came back after knocking out his enemy, he found Damaru on her knees beside the dead man, her hands in front of her eyes.
Understanding in an instant, he went near her and bent over her.
"Come on." He said softly, taking her shoulders to gently get her up "Let's go home."
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"Ah, Itachi-kun." Kakashi recognised, opening the door to see the young boy "Enter."
"Thank you." the boy said, stepping inside "How is she?"
"Bad." The man replied shortly, closing the door behind him "She refuses to go out of her bedroom, barely eats and even the kids can't distract her enough. The problem is that the children are now depressed because Damaru is depressed."
"I'll talk to her."
"You can stay here as long as you want. Seeing you would also do some good for the children."
Itachi nodded and went to the living room.
"Itachi-nii!" The boys exclaimed when they saw him enter the room.
Naruto and Sasuke rushed into him, fighting to hug him first while Sai followed at a sedated place, staying near Shin.
"Okay okay you little monsters." Itachi chuckled, hugging both boys before hugging Shin and Sai.
"Damaru-nee is really sad Nii-san." Sai said, looking up to him with sad eyes.
"Yes!" Naruto added, pouting "Nee-san sad!"
"Are you here to make her feel better?" Shin asked hopefully.
Itachi sighed. What Kakashi had told was true. The children were really worried about Damaru.
But that was obvious. Even if Kakashi had said nothing, he would have noticed the quieter (much quieter) atmosphere, and the fact that the children weren't running everywhere, taking as much place as they could with themselves and their toys.
"I'll try my best." He replied, ruffling Shin's hairs before getting up.
"I'll help you later with the children." The black haired boy turned to Kakashi "Where's Sakumo-ojii by the way?"
"He's been invited by the Ino-Shika-Cho trio to go to the bar with them." The man answered "He didn't want to go but I convinced him otherwise. With uncle's death he has been very lonely."
Itachi nodded before heading upstairs.
He politely knocked before entering.
Damaru was burrowed under her covers, not even a wisp of white hairs peaking out.
"Damaru?" Itachi asked softly, sitting beside her form on the bed.
The girl didn't answer.
"How much time do you think you'll stay like that?" The boy nonetheless continued "Sasuke, Naruto, Sai and Shin are very worried you know? Kakashi and Sakumo too. And what your father would say if he saw you like that?"
He had to wait a bit before he got an answer.
"Each night I dream of that guy." Damaru's voice was barely audible, muffled under the cover "I see his dead body with his throat slit open. I can't…"
She couldn't continue further and fell silent again, sniffing lightly.
"You know." Itachi said softly, putting a hand on her covered shoulder "I also killed two men, back then I was eight."
The sniffing stopped.
"We were on a mission to get a gemstone and…"
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The moment Damaru stepped in the living room, supported by Itachi, she was assaulted by the children.
They barrelled into her, yelling her name and rushed to hug her.
Damaru's hairs were disheveled, her eyes were pink and she had dark rings under her eyes, but the children were still smiling like Christmas had come early.
"Damaru-nee-chan?" Shin asked "Can you play with us?"
"Yes, of course." Damaru smiled, letting go of Itachi's arm and going to sit with them.
"Thank you." Kakashi said quietly as they looked at Damaru playing with the children.
"Hn."
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