Hmm, this is pretty hefty, considering it's centered on a character not yet given much attention to. Anyway, this chapter eluded me for quite some time, as it just refused to let itself be worked on by my muse (which resulted in the supernatural fic "Becoming", as my muse threatened to go on strike and take my other stories hostage if I didn't start that fic). In other news, this chapter comes in at over 4800 words (not including A/N, as always).
Lucidity stands at 82,155 hits (I reiterate- will reach 100K hits before the month is up), 20,062 visitors (awesome!), 287 reviews, 342 faves, 316 alerts, 22 C2s, and I myself sit at 35 faves and 48 alerts. Whoa.
Answering reviews! (the ones not already answered)
Wyrtha :Glad you're glad. Was planning that entire moment since he left Suna. And I agree that Chiyo's nuts (there will be a scene involving Yagura and her discussing Gaara's seal in the future).
cobra1777 :No, they don't have the same personalities. I'm not even sure they'll all be featured in this fic- at least, not until the end, but that's far off.
Peter Kim :It's an open banishment, meaning that when Konoha requires him once more, they'll revoke his banishment and send for him.
Tikitorch559 :No, Gaara's not in this chapter (a single chapter per Jinchuuriki/Hidden Village), so there won't be anything more concerning Chiyo's skills with Sealing for some time, or Gaara kicking her ass (literally or figuratively).
Noradin :The necklace was meant to be symbolic of his disconnection from Konoha, and the end of his dream to become Hokage. It's explained in chapter 12 what it was with him.
Disclaimer the First: I'll be working on Psyche next, and then Becoming, so keep a lookout for those two (and check them out- one's a shocking twist at a seemingly cliche supernatural creature while the other is a human interest piece about a Biju).
Disclaimer the Second: Blanking on a witty thing to say here, so I'll just put this sentence and see how many of you reach this far before cracking up (and no, I'm not that sadistic... just that insane).
Lucidity
Chapter 26
Pressure
"So, we're in agreement, then?" A looked over the long row of people sitting before him, paying close attention to the two on the far end. "The Alliance will split up their combined Shinobi force of 80,000 into specialized squads suited to combat each member of the Akatsuki, along with any extra forces they ally on their side."
"Yes." Intoned the group, and Yugito barely repressed a yawn. Before that mission, she would have been eagerly taking notes as Bee.. was...
"Stop making up new 'rhymes'!" She snatched the little notebook out of his hands, setting it ablaze with some basic Fire Manipulation. "Do you have any self-respect for yourself? Don't answer that!" She held up a hand to stop him when he opened his mouth. "There is a war going on! At least have the decency to pretend that you're interested!"
"Is that all, Nii?" A asked, and she suddenly realized that she was standing, and her voice had been getting progressively louder as she talked. "Because I could have told you that."
"Ahahaha..." She laughed, waving her hand in the air. Inwardly she hoped her ploy would move attention away from her. "I know. I was just making sure he knew." She jerked her thumb at Bee, who was now giving all his attention to a newly bandaged-up Samehada.
"He knows." A deadpanned. "Trust me, he knows. The question is, do you know?"
"What?" She stopped being all playful. "Of course I know! How could I not!"
"It just seems like you're not taking this as seriously as you normally would." He replied, and she practically felt the blow to her pride.
"Not taking this seriously?" She repeated, letting out a hollow laugh. "He's the one writing down those stupid rhymes and I'm not taking this seriously?"
"You know him. That's as serious as he gets." A responded. "That's why I'm asking about you, Jonin Nii."
Well, damn. Her evasive plan backfired. Horribly, if the Raikage was calling her "Jonin Nii". He never did that unless he was extremely angry.
"I know!" She argued, almost childishly. She was met with disbelieving looks at her. "I know. Big war, all the Hidden Villages banding together, threat of Akatsuki looming over the horizon. I spent over a week with the majority of people the Akatsuki were thought to have captured, and one that was thought to be stuck in Konoha, insane! Not to mention, I'm one of their targets, so if anyone should know there's a war going on, and how serious it is, it should be me."
"And that's precisely my point, Nii." He countered. "You spent the past 10 days with a group of Jinchuuriki capable of fighting the Akatsuki on equal grounds after losing to them instead of returning to Kumo to warn us of their reappearance. Because of that, over a dozen Jonin are dead and we nearly lost Bee."
"Fo' Sho', my bro!" Bee rapped, before being kicked in the head by Yugito.
"So my life is forfeit against the lives of those Jonin that most likely would have died anyway?" She argued, and several people gasped at her audacity. "Oh grow up! Hoshigaki Kisame wielded the Samehada, rumored to be the strongest of Kiri's Seven Swords, making him the most formidable opponent for even Bee!"
"Hoshigaki wasn't impressed. He didn't go down easy, it was a mess!" Bee chimed in, before a heel-drop from Yugito introduced his face to the floor.
"What did I tell you about rhyming?" She ground out, grinding his face deeper into the floor with each word.
"Not to?" Was the muffled reply.
"Then don't." She said, adding a kick to his side for emphasis before taking her seat once more, brushing stray hairs back behind her ears, her ponytail askew. Interlacing her fingers, she looked up at A expectantly. "You were saying about the division of the Allied forces into regiments?"
"Yes, something which will be discussed at length when we set out to meet up with the other Kage and their Shinobi. That is all for this meeting. Dismissed." Yugito got up with the rest of the room. "Except you, Jonin Nii."
Yugito sat back down in her seat as Bee jumped up out of the crater his head had made and joined the leaving group, giving the two of them the 'peace' sign over his shoulder as he left. Within seconds, the two of them were the only ones in the room.
"You can cut the act, Yugito." A sighed. She raised an eyebrow.
"What act?" The Raikage stood up and walked towards her.
"This rebellious act of yours." He rounded his desk. "It may have given you an in with the other Jinchuuriki, but you can stop it and debrief me on everything you know about them."
"What. Act." She repeated. "And debrief you? On what? They're happier together than they ever could have been had they stayed with their Hidden Villages? That I'm beginning to agree with them on why they chose to wander the Elemental Nations?"
"You'd best stop that line of thought immediately, Jonin Nii, or I'll have to brand you as a traitor." A threatened.
"Like you'd do that." Yugito scoffed. "We both know you're more interested in keeping control over the Nibi than in my well-being, so let's just cut with all this bureaucratic crap."
"Jonin Nii, you are a ward of the Yotsuki Clan, of which I am a member of, not to mention your Kage, and you will respect your superiors!" A argued, raising his voice.
"Like Hell I will!" She spat. "If this is what Kumo's really like, I do believe I may just give myself over to the Akatsuki the first chance I get.!"
"You will not!" He screamed at her, and she nearly quailed under the chakra pressure he forced onto her. "You are a Shinobi of Kumogakure, and will continue to serve under my leadership until your death."
"And if I don't?" Yugito countered, her defense against his chakra-powered Killer Intent weakening.
"Then I will have to brand you as a traitor, and your death will come closer than you think." He intoned, his voice dropping to a whisper, the Killer Intent vanishing. "It's not something I want to do, Yugito. Not to any of you."
"I know." She answered wrapping her arms around herself. "I don't think I could say any different, were I in your position."
"I don't just care about the Nibi, but you as well." A said. "However, because of your circumstances, the two of you are a package deal. When I talk about protecting the Nibi, I also mean protecting you."
"You have an odd way to show it." She grumbled, but agreed with him nonetheless.
"You've met my brother." He deadpanned, and Yugito felt the sudden urge to introduce her head to the nearest wall.
"Don't remind me." She stood up, moving to leave. "If you need me, I'll be avoiding Bee's old Genin."
"Samui's been looking for you." A told her. "You will have to confront her at some point."
"Which I'm going to avoid at all costs." Yugito answered, leaving the room.
"Hey, Yugito!" Bee waved to her, hurriedly shoving something that looked suspiciously like his little notebook into a pocket, and she had to repress her sudden urge to drop-kick him into next week.
Baby steps. She told herself. Baby steps...
"Hey, Bee." She crossed her arms and gave him her best disapproval face- which he was particularly weak against. "What was that you put into your pocket just now?"
"Ahehehe..." Bee scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, and Yugito had to give him points for the innocent act. "It was my back-up songbook!"
"Your... back-up songbook?" She repeated, disbelief spreading across her visage.
"Yep!" He pulled it out of his pocket and waved it around proudly. "I always keep a second one on hand in case my first one gets filled or destroyed!"
Well... At least he wasn't rhyming.
"That's... great." She said at length, redirecting the need to burn it to ash into something more productive. "Say, where's that team of yours? You know, the Genin you took on a couple years ago?"
"Speak of the devil, and ye shall appear, for they are right there." He pointed behind him, and Yugito's hand twitched towards her rosary at his abuse of the word "there" before she hissed a command in his ear.
"I was never here!" Once she confirmed that he understood, Yugito leapt away, running as far from the trio of chakra signatures as she could get. While she was running away, Bee's team rounded the corner and bumped into him.
"Sensei!" Karui hit him in the chest, not even phasing him while her hand now hurt from the attempt. "Don't just stand there like that!"
"She's right." Omoi added, shifting the lollipop in his mouth to the side. "Someone could be carrying a sword and trip and run you through, and you would die before we could get you to the hospital. What would happen to you then?"
"Don't be so pessimistic, Omoi." Karui elbowed her teammate, and Samui just ignored them as their bickering devolved into a mindless argument. Again.
"Have you seen Yugito?" She asked Bee, who merely shook his head.
"She and I left at different times. Big bro wanted to talk to her alone, and she burned my rhymes!" He wailed at the end, but Samui just palmed her head as both her teammates continued their shouting match while her Sensei just kept up his melodramatic wails about "his poor, poor rhymes".
Where on Earth is that woman?
Yugito shifted her hips, allowing the full brunt of her weight to be supported by her arms and left leg rather than gravity, as she gazed down into the room below her through the grate. Walking around the apartment, Samui checked everywhere she could for any trace of the elusive ward of the Yotsuki and Jinchuuriki of the Nibi. Seeing none, Samui walked over to the door (which Yugito was stealthily hiding above in the air vent, with her right leg dangling out of the vent and down between the hinges and the corner of the room) and made to leave.
"I know you're here." She suddenly said. "I don't know where you are, but I know you're here. I can sense you. Meet me at that gyudon place a couple blocks away in half an hour. I just want to talk."
Having said her due, Samui left, closing the door. Yugito hung there for a moment longer, ensuring that Samui was definitely gone, before sliding out of the vent and silently landing on to ground. Glancing around, Yugito felt sure that she was safely alone in her apartment and let out a sigh of relief.
"Yo!"
"GAH!"
"Huh." Bee said, stepping in from the kitchen. "I always thought that was another one of those myths about cats..."
"Never speak of this." Yugito growled, prying her fingertips (and the tips of her sandals) out of her ceiling and twisting her body to land on her feet in front of Bee. "How did you get in here?"
"Same as Samui- through the door." He grinned at her.
"But you came from my kitchen." Yugito countered. "There's no door outside from my kitchen."
"I know." His grin didn't waver in the slightest.
"Then that means you were here, in my apartment, before me, the person who lives here." Yugito began to rethink her plan to turn Bee into something resembling a normal person.
"That reminds me..." Bee tapped his chin in thought before rapping on wall around her door, which fell out of its place with the rest of the apartment and against the opposite wall of the hallway with a ker-thwump. "You need to have that fixed."
Yugito felt many things at that moment: her fingers itching to wrap themselves around Bee's neck, the muscle around her one eye (and eyebrow) twitching, and one of her veins sporadically clenching and unclenching.
"You..." She began, staring at the wall in disbelief. "Cut through the wall."
"Well, I couldn't remember where you put your spare key." Bee explained.
"So you cut through the wall?"
"I didn't think you'd like it if I destroyed your door with the missus here." He patted the handle of Samehada affectionately, which began to emit that frightening burbling noise once more.
"So you cut through the wall?"
"It was either that or break a window, and that kinda thing don't fly with me."
"So you cut through the wall?"
"Yep!" Bee grinned, not noticing the aura of doom surrounding Yugito and aimed at him. Her nails sharpened to points, while her canines poked through her lips. She pounced.
"DIE!"
Samui sat on the veranda outside Ken'ichi's, a well-known place for its gyudon, drinking tea when she heard the screams of her Sensei.
"NOT THE FACE! NOT THE FACE!" She raised an eyebrow at that proclamation, wondering who he might have pissed off this time. "BACK TO THE FACE! BACK TO THE FACE!"
Ah. Yugito. Only she could get Sensei to willingly be hit in the face.
"He better not make her miss this appointment." She muttered to herself, the cries of her Sensei falling on deaf ears. "I really need to speak to her."
Some time later, Yugito appeared, carrying a moaning Bee over her shoulder, which she unceremoniously dumped on the ground before noticing Samui sitting at one of the tables. The two briefly made eye contact, before Yugito broke it, flinching at the memory of Samui's brother. Stepping on Bee's prone from as hard as she could, Yugito used him as a stepping stone towards the table. Snatching an empty seat, Yugito spun it around and (in a flashy movement of acrobatics that had the full weight of the chair slamming into Bee's groin at one point) sat down across the table from the other blond.
"Samui." She greeted the woman.
"Yugito." Samui reciprocated.
The two sat in silence, the hustle and bustle of Kumogakure falling on deaf ears as the entire area surrounding them was enveloped in an oppressive aura not even the hardiest of Shinobi could win against: the awkward silence.
"So..." Yugito broke the silence, and the crowd around them went silent- they knew a juicy piece of gossip when it presented itself, and what was about to occur had the potential to spark a wildfire within the rumor-mill of Kumo. "How have you been?"
"Better." Samui clipped out, and the silence descended again, with the occasional moan coming from Bee, who was still laying prone upon the ground.
"I'm sorry." Yugito blurted out, and the crowd hushed once more.
"For what?" Samui raised an eyebrow.
"For..." Yugito rubbed her arms together, avoiding eye contact with the other woman. "For Atsui."
"For Atsui?" Samui repeated, setting down her cup of tea. "You're the reason he's dead, and all you can say is you're sorry?"
"I am." Yugito contested. "Atsui's death-"
"Is your fault." Samui interrupted, her voice on the verge of breaking.
"Samui..." Yugito began. "That's not true. Akatsuki-"
"Shut up!" Samui shrieked. "Don't use them as an excuse! Had you never needed him to go with you, Atsui would still be alive. I'd still have my brother."
"AND I WOULD BE DEAD!" Yugito screamed, getting to her feet. "Is it worth it? Is it worth having one person live while another dies?"
"If it meant Atsui would still be here, yes." Samui coldly replied, and Yugito took a step back, feeling like she'd been slapped.
"Do I really mean so little to you?" Yugito asked. "I'm your cousin! I'm just as much your family as Atsui was!"
"No you aren't!" Samui snapped. "Just because you were born to this family doesn't mean that you're a part of it. You aren't my family. You never were, not since having that, that... thing put in you." She disgustingly spat out.
"And you think I wanted to have it in me?" Yugito's eyes pricked with the faintest hints of tears.
"I think you never liked being related to me or Atsui or any of us." Samui's voice quieted down. "I think you were too blind to see just who cared about you."
"I never turned any of you away!" Yugito protested. "Who was there to comfort you when Uncle died? Who put all of her mission pay aside to raise you and Atsui, huh? Who?"
"I-" Samui weakly protested.
"Who?" Yugito pressed.
"That's not-"
"WHO?" She screamed. "ME! I was there to hold you when Uncle died! I was there to hold you close and whisper that it would all be okay! I was the one who had the Raikage funnel all my mission pay into raising you! ME! It was all me! I was the one who taught you how to properly throw a Kunai! I was the one who worked to make sure Bee was your Sensei just so I could be there for you!"
"AND YOU WERE THERE TO WATCH ATSUI DIE!" Samui screamed back, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "YOU WERE ALWAYS THERE TO PROTECT US, TO PROTECT ME, AND YOU DID NOTHING TO STOP HIS KILLERS!"
"There was nothing I could do!"
"Bullshit." Samui whispered. "There's always something."
"No there wasn't!" Yugito countered.
"BULLSHIT!" Samui repeated, standing from her seat as well. "There were tons of things you could've done!"
"Like what?" Yugito snapped.
"You could've fought back!"
"I did!" Yugito contested.
"Only after it was too late to save Atsui!" Samui countered.
"So you'd rather we'd have fought back and both died?" Yugito stated disbelievingly. "Are you mad?"
"I'm furious!" Samui retaliated. "Anything would have been better than what happened!"
"There was nothing I could do!" Yugito pressed, her defenses crumbling before her very eyes. "They'd attacked before we could, and by then it was too late! There was nothing I could do!"
"STOP SAYING THAT!" Samui was near hysterics at this point. "There must have been something, anything, you could have done!"
"There was nothing!" Yugito hissed. "In hindsight, Atsui would have been better off had I killed him myself early on!"
"NO!" Samui shrieked.
"Yes!" Yugito pressed. "Whatever they hit him with, I was hit by too. All it took was a single drop of blood, and that one guy could injure himself, and I was hit with the same injuries. Atsui-"
"Stop saying his name!" Samui interrupted, her voice choked up from crying. "Stop saying it."
"He was hit in their first attack." Yugito continued. "After that, the guy, Hidan, toyed with him. He begged me to leave him in his final moments. He kept babbling about how I was more important than him."
"You aren't." Samui sniffled.
"I told him I couldn't leave him. Not like that." Yugito's voice broke, and she began crying as well. "Do you know how hard it is, to have to watch one of the few people you watched grow up die before your eyes?"
"I can't imagine..." Samui wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"I wanted to die." Yugito continued. "But I couldn't. To do so would have made Atsui's death be in vain, and I couldn't do that."
"Then why didn't you kill them?" Samui exclaimed, waving her hand out towards the edge of the village and beyond.
"Don't you get it yet? I did kill them, both of them, but they just wouldn't die!" Yugito finished. "If you can't accept that, then there's nothing more I can tell you."
With that said, Yugito spun around, stepped past Bee, who was getting up, and around the crowd, who parted as she approached them, leaving Samui to stand alone in the veranda of Ken'ichi's, silent tears flowing down her face.
Yugito stalked the streets of Kumo, everyone in front of her parting and giving her a large swath. Before meeting those other Jinchuuriki, Yugito had always thought that the large gap given to her- and to a lesser extent, Bee- was simply because she'd always had a lot of potential, and had made everyone else jealous because of it. Now, however, she saw it for what it was- social ostracism of the highest degree. Where once she saw people looking down at her because they hated that they weren't the Shinobi they wished to be, she now saw looks of disgust and prideful haughtiness. She remembered how she'd been almost two weeks before- prideful of having been a Jinchuuriki, and would have gladly died in the line of duty for Kumogakure. Now, though...
Yugito didn't like what had been revealed to her. Everyone who gazed upon her thought she was something like the village pet, the caged beast they could just let loose on their enemies when they themselves didn't want to fight.
She hated that. Hated thinking along those lines. Hated Utakata for having saved her. Hated Atsui for not dodging that scythe.
Hated herself, for not taking that hit instead.
But she had to think along those lines. Had to thank Utakata for saving her. If he hadn't, she would have been dead and Samui wouldn't have any family left. And Atsui...
He'd made his choice. He'd been the one who had volunteered to accompany her. He'd been the one who had stepped out of the supply building first, taking point- and the attack meant for her.
And she couldn't not think along those lines, blaming everyone but the person at fault for Atsui's demise.
Herself.
"Yugito?" A voice from behind called out to her, and she started, looking around hurriedly in an effort to take in her surroundings.
When did I get back home?
"Yugito." The voice called to her again, and she turned away from her door (and barely patched-up wall) to find none other than Darui leaning against the wall opposite her door. "Are you alright? You look like you've been crying."
"Sorry." She let out a breathy laugh, rubbing what was left of her tears out of her eyes.
"That's my line..." Darui lamented, standing up straight. "But seriously. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She replied. "I've just been going through some personal stuff."
"Oh. Sorry for intruding." He apologized. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Yugito glanced over at him, and seemed to consider his offer. Though she'd made it clear that she wasn't interested in him, he'd insisted that they at least be friends.
It's either him or Bee... She thought, the blocky spackle from the man's latest attempt at amusing her making its' way across her vision.
"Yeah..." She answered, opening her door and motioning him to enter. Once they were seated around the table in her kitchen, waiting for the kettle to heat up for their tea, Darui lightly pressed for details.
"So... what's got you so dull?" He asked.
"Samui." She replied. "Atsui's death hit her hard, and she's blaming me for it."
"That explains the rumors spreading around of the two of you having a shouting match outside of Ken'ichi's..." Darui mused, nursing the empty cup in front of him.
"There's already rumors about it?" Yugito was taken aback. "It only happened ten minutes ago!"
Ninja village." Darui explained. "News travels fast."
"Still..." Yugito groused, but didn't comment further. "Samui blames me."
"Did she hear the whole story?" Darui asked.
"I told her near the end of our shouting match." Yugito answered.
"So there was a shouting match." Darui stated.
"It may have gotten loud." Yugito agreed. "But she didn't see reason. There was nothing I could do. We were dead the moment they found us."
"You could have fought back." Darui reasoned.
"Samui said the same thing, so I'll tell you what I told her. You'd rather we'd have fought back and both died?" Yugito testily said.
"No." Darui shook his head. "I'm just making sure you knew your options. People like Akatsuki aren't the kind you can just challenge to a fight on the street without having some sort of plan in place, with several back-up plans ready to go. S-Rank isn't something achieved easily. With the number of ninja in the Bingo Book, only three or four of them are S-Rank, and that's the ones that are actually in the Bingo Book."
"So you're saying there's actually more than four, maybe five S-Rank Shinobi in all the Elemental Nations?"
"Nah." Darui disagreed. "Of those half-dozen listed, a really smart group of people could easily take down most of them without much trouble. Only two, at most, of all Shinobi listed and rumored to be at S-Rank are actually worthy of holding such a title. Everyone else just barely qualifies."
"So who do you believe those two Shinobi to be?" Yugito asked, and Darui waved off her question as the kettle began to whistle.
"Don't know, don't really care." He sat up, picking up the kettle and pouring the hot water into their cups. "Honestly, I don't want to meet them and doubt I ever will."
"Because of this war." Yugito added.
"It's not much of a war." Darui continued. "Really, we're just a large group of Shinobi who banded together to take down some of the best of us. Nothing less than that would be needed to take down a group of Shinobi skilled enough to take on a Biju one-on-one and come out on top."
"I know..." Yugito trailed off, memories of her fight with those two Akatsuki surfacing in her mind.
"She's not wrong, you know." Darui's words shook Yugito out of her stupor, and she was left gaping at him in shock. "She's not right, either, but she isn't wrong in thinking that you played a part in his death."
"How can you say that?" Yugito hissed.
"I'm just saying, the one that killed him is a part of Akatsuki, yes, but who's to say that he wouldn't have died against them in this war?" Darui elaborated.
"You can't be serious." Yugito deadpanned.
"I'm just sayin'..." Darui trailed off.
"You sound like that one student of Bee's right now, you know that right?"
"Omoi's not that bad a guy, Yugito."
Sure~ he isn't." Yugito said at length, taking a sip of her tea. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Yugito stood up, leaving the kitchen to answer the door. "Coming!" She called out to whoever was waiting for her.
Samui stood there, looking unhappy about being there, but determined to see what she had gone there to do through to the end.
"Samui." Yugito blinked. Behind her, Darui appeared in the doorway to her kitchen, and quickly made up an excuse about 'being late for an appointment with Omoi', leaving the two women alone.
"I've thought about what you said." Samui began. "And while I don't think I can fully forgive you, I believe I can at least let go of most of the hate I have for you."
"Really?" Yugito asked. "Because I would understand if you hated me. I mean, I kinda hate me, for what I did and didn't do."
"Really?" Samui repeated, surprised at the revelation.
"Yeah." Yugito admitted. "There was just so many things I could have done, but none of them would have gotten the both of us out of there alive."
"It's okay." Samui consoled the older woman. "Someday the both of us will move past it. Besides, I don't believe Atsui would like to see us being so down-hearted. It's not cool."
"You're right." Yugito agreed, and the two of them entered the apartment, intent on patching up their fractured relationship and helping each other through their grievances.