The Boy in the Team
Chapter Twenty-Five
There was no one in outer Taki by the time he reached the first rooftops. All of the buildings were empty. The people weren't there, and neither were his teammates. His body tightly curled into a ball, his eyes peered towards the direction of Takigakure's giant tree and main entrance to inner Taki. He had circled around the tree, and yet there had been no other entrance.
Had his team simply left?
Maybe they had. Like always, they had left him alone, leaving him behind.
Had they even looked for him to begin with?
"Don't you dare cry," he murmured. "You're not out of danger."
"I…"
"I can feel those tears in your eyes' corners. You are not going to cry."
"But…"
"Look, follow your smart other-self advice and we'll be safe and happy," he whispered, closing his eyes shut. "We need a plan. We have time. We can wait."
"The only way out is through the cave complex," Shinku began, "The only ones who know the way out are Takigakure shinobi."
"We need a Takigakure shinobi or villager then," he added, "And they all seem in inner Taki."
He nodded. "So, first thing first, we get inside."
Shinku stared blearily at the tree. "The doors are probably guarded. We'll need another entrance…it's not like you can fly over to the branches…"
"No, but you can run on it."
"Then what? We chop ourselves a way through?" Shinku muttered.
"They'll need to have lights inside. I bet the leader of the village has a house up in the branches for the scenery, like the Hokage's mansion being near the monument of the past Hokage."
Shinku exhaled. "Are we sure about this?"
"You be the arm, leave me the mind. You're not alone, Shinku. I'm here. We'll make it through."
Shinku clenched his right hand into a fist, before opening his eyes. "We're not fighting anyone."
"No, we're doing the ninja. We'll go in, unseen, and leave, unseen."
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
"If you jinx this I swear I will impale myself on a pike," he growled. "Now move."
Shinku gazed at the nearest root of the giant tree, concentrating his chakra as he flickered from his spot over to the area he had gazed on. His feet landed firmly on the root, his body squatting down to minimize the chances of the enemy seeing him.
"No radio talk," Shinku muttered. "Not that I actually have a radio."
"Start climbing. Use the chakra only if we're nearly there. Remember to rappel and keep the hooks. Your chakra reserves are so pitiful a new born baby could do better."
"Are you encouraging me or trying to weather down my self-esteem?"
"Are you afraid? No. Therefore, it's working. Concentrate Shinku. Listen to my voice and climb the damn tree."
First was 'hook' number one, then the rope around his waist. Hook number two came soon afterwards as he gripped tightly on two Kunai, before slamming them on the wood surface and pushing himself up. Holding on to the 'hooks' better known as kunai, he began to climb.
Thunk.
Thunk.
The sharp points of the weapons dug in the bark, as soon Shinku left behind the ground. He exhaled, his arms trembling. He carefully pointed his feet against the trunk and let go of the hooks, to test the system. They did actually hold a bit of his weight —not much, but it worked as a momentary rest.
He began to climb again shortly after.
Maybe, if he had luck, he'd find a window or something.
He didn't have that luck, and his hands scraped themselves bare from the pressure of holding on to the kunai's handles. Blood dribbled down his palms as the final stretch came to be through the strength of desperation.
He would have killed someone for a pair of wings, in that moment.
One of the closer branches was just a light jump away from him, and as he hurried along the bark, in that moment…
He went nearly dry on chakra.
The sensation of emptiness sucking at his very stomach doubled him over, as his hands gripped on to the kunai planted firmly on the tree's trunk. He sucked in sharply, before whimpering. "Move, Shinku. Move."
"Hurts. Hurts…it hurts…"
"Move you useless pathetic sac of flesh!" he snarled, slamming the kunai forward. "You're a shinobi. You're born to kill and endure. Endure. Move it, Shinku. Move!" another slamming slightly above. "Climb this damn tree or die trying! Nobody cares about you anyway! You're in this shit alone with me, and I'm you! Climb!"
One more thunk, then another…by the third his left leg could practically touch the branch. The moment he finally reached the thick wooden branch…he collapsed on it, breathing hard through both his mouth and his nose. He stared at the taller branches, way above him…and chuckled.
"I'm not going to make it…"
"You're more than halfway there," he croaked. "Just…rest for the moment."
"All right…"
His eyes closed, and when they did his entire body simply slumped down. He was too tired to even think, let alone move.
What was he doing? He was going to die —there was no way a group of shinobi who could take over a village would have trouble dealing with him. Probably the only reason he wasn't taken…was because they thought him dead, and he wasn't a menace to anyone even if they believed him alive.
The rustling of leaves woke him up, as the pitch black darkness that surrounded him told him it was high time he started climbing once more. It was night.
He gripped at a glow stick, before stilling. He was in the dark. If he used it and someone saw him…then it wouldn't turn out pretty at all.
Better to climb in silence and darkness.
"Being in the dark isn't scary, Shinku," he whispered. "It's just normal…really…we're shinobi…we're used to dark places."
"I want to go back home," he croaked, as he slammed his right kunai on the bark. His palms screamed in agony to him, but he ground his teeth and ignored them. "I want to go back to the empty kitchen."
"I want to survive," he snarled. "And we will survive, Shinku. No matter what we'll have to do. We're survivors, Shinku. Let's survive together."
"Then I can go back home?" another slam on the wood as he climbed.
"Yes, then we can go back home."
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Naruko's ears perked up.
The noise was rhythmic and constant, and seemed to come from behind the wall. The room she was in had seals she knew all too well over all of the walls. The fact she was sharing the room with Fu furthermore made wonders for her mood.
"We can't use chakra in here," Fu stated plainly, gazing at her hard. "Why are you here anyway?"
Naruko growled, before wincing and holding on to the right side of her face. She could heal any wound, they wouldn't even leave a scar afterwards but…but with her chakra stilled all that fuzzy-butt had managed to do was to repair her jaw. The angry red line on the side of her face was probably going to stay for a long while.
Would it even scar? If it did, though…was she still going to be a bride in the future?
Maybe she could count it off as a long whisker —one that came out wrong.
"They knocked me out," Naruko growled. "They…" it hurt to even speak, "I don't know… Where is my teammate anyway?"
"I don't know. The elders put me in here for time-out whenever I act bad," Fu mumbled. "I obey because otherwise they don't even feed me…"
"Fat chance…you killed your team, I wouldn't even be near you unless…"
"It was an accident!" Fu yelled back, tears in her eyes. "I didn't know how to control the Nanabi! We were out on a mission, shinobi attacked! I ended up using it…I…when I came to my senses they were all dead, devoured by my insects and…and…" she sniffled, "There was nothing I could do! What do you know about it anyway!?"
"Ohi," Naruko snapped, "If that was the truth then why didn't you say so!?"
"I did! But they didn't believe me," she chuckled mirthlessly. "My parents abandoned me at birth, when I became the Nanabi's Jinchuuriki. I grew up in the orphanage of Takigakure, shunned by everyone else. I thought I'd make friends with my teammates, and things even had begun to look up…" she shook her head, before grabbing at her stomach with her nails. "Then this stupid, worthless thing came and took it all away."
She slammed her right fist against the side of the wall.
"That won't be a problem for long," a voice called from behind the wooden door of the cell, as the upper wooden pannel used to look inside the cell moved to the side to reveal an old face with spiky hair. "Soon, someone will come to take care of both of you. They'll pay me handsomely for delivering you both."
"Suien!" Fu shrieked. "You're supposed to be a missing-nin! What are you doing in Taki!?"
"You don't know? You didn't realize it? We have Taki now, and soon the Hero water will be ours…as soon as Shibuki returns, we'll have everything we need to become the most powerful village in the history of the elemental nations!"
"What? But…"
"There, there," Suien sarcastically said. "It's going to be all right soon. You'll be sold, we'll have a profit, and everyone will be happy. Of course you'll die, but that is really not something I care about, Jinchuuriki," he spat out that word as an insult, before spitting on the ground in front of them. Then the wooden panel slid back into its place, leaving both girls once more alone.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
"You can do this," a small voice whispered in the back of Shinku's ear, as he carefully reached a balcony. The thing had practically 'grown' out of the tree, and hidden as it was by thick branches, it looked all the more important. There was actually a guard, and that was what stopped him dead on his tracks. The man was looking backwards, a cigarette in his mouth
Shinku was just beneath the balcony, holding on to his breath.
"So the sellers are going to pay us five million ryos for the Nanabi? What about the Kyuubi?"
"I didn't tell them about it. Iwagakure pays more for the Yondaime's daughter —one hundred millions dead, two hundred millions alive."
Someone whistled at the high price. "That much!?"
"Iwagakure doesn't forget easily. And she's also the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, so there's that to consider."
"And she's a girl," another voice snickered. "Guess they'll parade a string of bastards in front of her father?"
"Oh, probably to rile him up," the older voice remarked. "Maybe they'll take turns with the entire village —they were a bit lacking in population and whores after all."
Shinku's face turned green. What were they talking about? Well, he actually had an idea about it.
"Remain quiet," the voice hissed to the back of his ear. "Steady and wait."
"Hisame, you leaving?"
"I'm not going to stay here and hear you lot talk of this, it's disgusting," a female voice spoke, before a door slid open and then closed with a loud bang.
"What's her problem now?"
"She had issues with our superior back in Amegakure."
"You think we could take the girl for a test-ride?"
"Kirisame, you sicko… she's thirteen! Urgh, now you've wasted my appetite."
"Ohi, you bastard! You were the one talking of Iwagakure!" 'Kirisame' snapped back.
"Yes, but Iwagakure is a land of sick fucks, so…"
Shinku swallowed, holding his breath.
"Ah, I was joking anyway," 'Kirisame' retorted, "The villagers are down in the barracks, right? I'll find myself a pretty little thing there…"
"Not too little, I hope."
"Shut the fuck up, Murasame!"
Shinku bit down on his lips. His hands were killing him, but he was still holding on.
"I'm going to the training grounds," 'Murasame' snorted. "You guys, keep it down."
The door opened and closed repeatedly, until in the end the guy with the cigarette —the one who was at the balcony— threw the burnt off nicotine tube away.
"Any of you up for a drink?"
Shinku carefully peeked slightly above the balcony's rail, gazing at the shinobi that were in the room and its general layout.
It looked like a sort of lounge, with a sofa and a few low tables. There were a couple of cupboards —open and with their contents a bit everywhere— plus what looked like a big kitchen. He hadn't been wrong about the village leader's house apparently.
The missing-nin all had flak jackets, and as a large group left for the door two others remained behind.
Cigarette-guy rolled another, his eyes down and concentrated on the task while his colleague was with a hand over his face, snoring on the sofa.
It could have been an everyday slice of life scene.
If not for the fact those two were missing-nin, who had probably killed their fair deal of shinobi, and they were barring his only way through. It was night, why couldn't they just be asleep to begin with?
The lights coming in from the room were another problem to solve. He took a deep breath, before tightening the grasp on his kunai.
"A shinobi must kill his heart," he mouthed.
"No, no," he shook his head. "I'm going to die if I do this," he mimicked talking by moving his lips, without actually letting sound come from his throat.
"Jump, slice the neck of cig-guy…"
There was a light sound of footsteps as cigarette guy returned to the balcony, a new cigarette in his mouth.
Hiding beneath it once more, Shinku gripped tightly on the handles of his kunai, to the point where blood once more began to dribble.
Kill or be killed.
Killing is wrong.
You're a shinobi. Kill. Kill. Kill.
I can wait for him to leave.
They'll kill her.
I can…
They'll kill her. Kill or be killed. Kill or be Killed. Die then. Do you want to die? Die then.
I don't want to die.
THEN KILL HIM.
Cold-blooded murder sounded so easy, when explained by the academy teacher to a class of students with sparkling eyes caught up in the 'heroic' depiction of the shinobi.
Cold-blooded murder was not easy.
Shinku held on to the balcony's side by using chakra on his feet, before extending the rope between his two kunai and forming a wide noose. Quietly, he took aim.
His hand trembled.
Steady. STEADY. STEADY SHINKU. DO YOU WANT TO DIE SHINKU? STEADY!
Then he threw the noose, and jumped downwards.
There was an 'urk', followed by a snap as a body plummeted on the branch beneath with him…beheaded neatly. Blood sprayed on the branch, as Shinku's right hand went to his mouth to hold in the bile and the retching.
He had killed a man.
He had killed a man with a rope. He had beheaded someone. He…he…
He had killed someone.
Am I a murderer?
Shinobi. Kill or be killed. Come on, Shinku. Kill or be Killed. Kill. Kill. Kill them. Do you want to die Shinku?
I don't want to die! Stop it!
THEN KILL THEM ALL SHINKU, IT'S EASY ISN'T IT!?
Slowly, he crept back up on the balcony and quietly moved towards the inside of the room. The other missing-nin was peacefully snoring, without a care in the world.
Shinku gripped his kunai.
He's sleeping!
Enemies. Must. Die. They will kill you. They will have no mercy. You heard them. Kill him. Kill him.
I…I can't…
YOUR HANDS ARE CRIMSON, SHINKU! YOU CAN. YOU DID. DO IT AGAIN. KILL.
The shinobi opened his eyes when Shinku's knee hit the low table. The enemy ninja realized what was going on too late, as Shinku's kunai came down again. Shinku's eyes closed as he ground his teeth and hissed, a whimper escaping his throat, as the enemy's hands clawed at his own…they were alive, trying to push the kunai away. The kunai that was killing…that was an instrument of death.
The enemy whimpered too, as his body suddenly went shock still with its eyes rolled on the back.
Shinku fell on his knees, retching on the richly furred carpet.
Move. Move. A shinobi that doesn't move is dead. Move. Move. Get out of here. Henge. Henge is useful. Survive.
Gah…He…he…
Kill or be killed. You're innocent. You're a shinobi. Murderers kill for no reason. We have one…survival.
He shakily brought his hands together for a henge before puffing in smoke to appear similar to the man he had just killed. It wasn't a good job, but it was dark and, as he turned off the light, in the night nobody was going to care much about it.
It was probably slightly after dinnertime, if the smell of cooked food was of any indication.
"Ohi! Endo!" he had rounded a corner, when one of the missing-nin from before was now in front of him. He froze where he stood, his right hand going to cover his mouth and most of his face as he gave a loud yawn.
"You bastard! Trying to sneak out of poker night by faking sleep uh," he had no idea who the man was...but he was alone, and that was enough.
He gave a light nod of the head, walking closer and keeping his eyes drooped down.
"Hey, man? Is that blood on your shoes?"
Chakra flared from his feet as Shinku slid forward, the frictionless charge slamming his elbow straight in the man's guts, before his kunai came up from his left sleeve and pierced straight through the man's mouth and throat. Holding him close, Shinku's eyes closed as he heard the gurgling sounds of the enemy missing-nin drowning in his own blood.
He dropped the body on the side of the hallway, before stilling halfway through his next step.
"I just killed a Chuunin."
"Missing-Nin, they're sort-of failed Chuunin," he retorted calmly.
"I…"
"Calm down, take a deep breath, and redo the Henge without the blood. Try to avoid leaving stamps…and find the others. I'm pretty sure Naruko's somewhere around here…where would you hold a Jinchuuriki?"
"Somewhere it can be contained."
"Good, let's look for a helpful sign which reads 'Containment Room ahead, do not disturb'."
Shinku snorted, his next steps turning him into a copy of the most recent man he had killed. "You make it sound so easy," he whispered…
"It is," he remarked. "We kill people, finding a room in a house is supposed to be easy."
Along the way, he turned off the lights. He really did prefer the dark —and it helped keep his Henge working.
He just hoped everything would turn out as fine as it had been until then.
The moment he gripped tightly on the melted chocolate piece…he really hoped that.
Sasuke opened his eyes. All he saw was the black darkness of a blindfold over his face.
"You sure the Uchiha can't do anything with a blindfold on?"
"Sure, what else can their sharingan do?"
Sasuke just smiled, before saying a single word.
"SUSANOO!"
Author's notes
Who's a hero, who's a monster…who's a fighter and who's a sinner…
Shinku killed three people. He is now officially far more powerful than Sakura has ever been…up to the point where Sakura killed Sasori.
…And Sakura had an assist.
And he doesn't even have chakra techniques worthy of praise.
I'm actually disheartened by Kishimoto. I suppose that if Sakura had been a male, then she would have grown too —apparently Kishi's problem is that he can't 'write' females. He could have made her a tomboy —end of the problem.
BTW. Nobody realized it up to this point…
It's a mind fuck, but if you haven't seen it yet…
Read the first letters of every chapter. 'TSUKUYOMI GENTEI' is cycled in repeat. I thought someone would have caught on by now. (It holds no meaning whatsoever with the plot of The Boy in the Team, I just did it as a quirk)