A/N: I changed the geology of some things for the sake of convenience.
Thank you everyone who has been following/favoriting/reviewing! Y'all make it so much easier to write! Reviews/PMs really do make me write faster haha!
Enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter Twenty-Five: Taking Advantage
Insomnia was always a 'fun' side effect of nightmares.
Tsunade sighed heavily while rubbing tiredly at her eyes. She was definitely feeling the strain from traveling at a pace she was no longer use to. But at least her sleep had been unperturbed for a short while. The Byakugō no In always took a lot out of her and forced comma like sleep. It would be at least a month before she was back to her full force. Despite her appearance, Tsunade wasn't as young as she once was.
Deciding that laying on her futon wasn't going to help her anymore, Tsunade got up and exited the room.
She hadn't made it out her door when she saw Naruto.
Propped up against the opposite wall the young genin was absorbed in his work. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was doing something with seals. Fresh paper tags stacked neatly to one side with a massacre of used tags tossed haphazardly on the other side. He was covered in black ink. Smeared across his face and hands there was more ink on his body than on his brush. Tsunade figured out how that had happened when the boy let out a disgruntled noise and licked his thumb before smearing the still wet ink on the tag. Naruto looked sullen before tossing the tag to the side and grabbing a new one.
Tsunade's head physically hurt as her mind threw memories at her with enough strength to crack her skull. Another blond haired blue eyed boy covered in ink and glowering at seals assaulted her mind. Granted he was accompanied by a redheaded hellion but…
"What are you doing?" Tsunade finally spoke up. The boy yelped and jerked, almost knocking the ink pot over. Big blue eyes turned up to her. A huge ink smear cut through his whisker-like marks. Another smudge covered a good portion of his forehead as if he'd flopped his head in to an ink mess. If the black blob on one of the tags was indication that might have actually happened.
"What are you doing up baa-baa?" Tsunade felt her eye twitch at the nickname. It was starting to appear in every conversation she had with the boy. And nothing she did seem to make him averse to it's the usage.
"I could ask you the same thing kid." Naruto face twisted up into a might scowl. It took everything Tsunade had not to squeeze his cheeks. With the ink smears and what was most certainly a pout, the boy was simple to cute. Especially when he wasn't talking.
"Pervy Sage snores too loud. I couldn't focus so I came out here."
"It's four in the morning. Have you slept at all?"
"What? Really? Aww man!" Tsunade covered her mouth with a fist to stop her laughter. The boy really did make some of the best faces. Deciding that Naruto was more appealing than finding a jug of sake, the woman walked the two steps to the other side of the hall and flopped down in front of him. Her eyes traveled across the used tags and the one he had been working on.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto did a 180 emotion wise and blasted Tsunade with an incandescent smile.
"I'm working on my seals! The book Shika-oji gave me let me come up with a few ideas and I want to test them out!"
"Oh? What kind of ideas?" Now Naruto's face was truly illuminating. Tsunade wondered if his smile could be seen all the way to Konoha.
"Teleportation!"
"…what?"
"It's like the summoning technique! Or at least that's what I think the book was getting to! Anyway I'm trying to make a teleportation seal!" And to prove his point Naruto grabbed two tags from his discarded pile and put them side by side. Tongue clamped between his lips, the boy grabbed an unused balloon and sat it on top of the right seal. He placed his hand on top and pushed chakra through.
Even Tsunade, as unknowing to seals as was outside her own and the bare basics, felt the waste. The seal glugged chakra like a dying man but appeared to choke on it before spewing half of it back out. The burn of ozone assaulted her nose. Naruto even made a grimace before putting his hand on the opposite seal. By moving his hand, Naruto showed that the balloon was gone despite the obvious chaos.
"I can get them to go but I can't get them to come back." And Naruto forced chakra into the new seal and indeed nothing came out despite the retching the seal seemed to do. Tsunade pushed Naruto's hand away from the seal when the stench of ozone got to be too much.
"Why the sudden interest in teleportation seals? That's a pretty hard study." 'And you don't seem like one who likes to study' went unsaid. Naruto glowered down at the two seals in front of him, bottom lip pushed out past the top.
"Nagisa keeps disappearing on me." Tsunade would have glanced down at the seals if she hadn't been so busy staring at Naruto. Just speaking this 'teammates' name seemed to suck all the energy and joy out of the boy she was half convinced it was the seal's doing. Naruto didn't bring his eyes up from the seals as he continued,
"When we first met her on the way to Nami, during the Chūnin Exams, during the training period of the Chūnin Exams, after the Chūnin Exams, and now she's gone who knows where with those bastards. It just…she's always leaving and I'm sick and tired of not knowing if she's going to be able to make it back. And even when she does come home she's almost always injured. I just thought…maybe if we had a way to always be connected kind of like—" Naruto motioned towards his head with a anxious flutter, "—this, then maybe I could summon her when I feel she's hurt, ya know?"
Tsunade's heart warmed in her chest to a degree she hadn't felt in a very, very long time. Smiling softly, the woman reached over and placed her hand on top the boy's wild hair. It was surprisingly soft for someone Jiraiya had to threaten before he'd take a bath. Rubbing the head gently, the older woman said,
"You're a good kid Naruto." The boy's face blushed a brilliant shade of red but he was giving her a bright smile again. It was so much better than the look of gloom that had been there seconds before. "And you're a good teammate. I made a bet on you remember? If anyone in Konoha can come up with a teleportation jutsu it'll be you."
"Thanks Baa-baa!"
Tsunade's fist fell down hard on the top of the boy's head sending him into the ground.
"Stop calling me that you brat!" When he whipped his face up off the ground there was more ink smeared across his skin.
"That hurt!"
"Good! Maybe then it'll get through your thick skull!" Huffing, Tsunade flopped back against the wall and glowered into the glare being shot up at her.
"Old lady," he muttered under his breath but Tsunade decided to let it go.
"Someone else made a teleportation jutsu before you." The scowl burst into a stunned expression.
"Huh? Who?" Tsunade smirked and got to her feet.
"I can't seem to remember his name. It must be because I'm a grandma."
"What? I didn't mean that! You're young! And beautiful! And really, really strong! And super young! Come on Baa—I mean—!" Tsunade was feeling quite satisfied as she sent a wink to the sputtering child.
"Go to bed brat."
Nagisa did not think of herself as a girl of many needs. She didn't think her requests as anything extreme.
But for the past couple of days Nagisa had been miserable.
Why?
Shimo no kuni. A desolate, disgusting, piece of frozen waste land that Nagisa never wanted to step foot in again. She hadn't minded Yutoo much. It was annoyingly humid but the hot springs themselves had been a pleasure to experience. And Konoha had prepared her for the heat. But in Shimo with its never ending winds and frozen waters, Nagisa had been miserable. The cold had settled in on her bones in a way she had never experienced before. Even circulating her chakra hadn't brought the warmth back to her toes. Zabuza had never taken her or Haku to a place such as Shimo and Nagisa now knew why. Neither she nor Zabuza would have survived.
Haku would have loved it though. And that had made it bittersweet to the young kunoichi as she had shivered in her new clothes and cloak.
It had gotten to the point that Kisame had finally picked her up and kept her under his cloak on his back. It had placed her closer to Samehada, who had apparently made it its mission to stay as close as possible since they left Ame, but Kisame's warmth had been well worth it.
But finally, after a few days' worth of traveling at a fast pace that wore on Nagisa but didn't seem to affect her traveling companions in the least, they made it to Kaminari. The temperature rose slowly but surely and soon enough she wasn't forced to find shelter in Kisame's cloak.
Then the terrain changed. No longer were there rolling hills covered in frost but rather tall mountains of harsh rock and little else. Their trek was no longer an easy lope but rather a heavy climb that had Nagisa exhausted at the end of the day.
It was their second day in the mountain range that they came on the shore. Ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see against the rocky outcrop. Kisame, smiling like a mad man patted Nagisa on the head and started out with,
"I'll go see what I can't find, neh?"
Kisame's back disappeared into the crags, the tip of Samehada the last thing Nagisa could make out before he disappeared. She continued to watch the area he had departed for while Itachi stroked the fire. But there was really only so much rock watching she could do, and so, Nagisa turned back to the hearth. The crackling fire warmed the frozen air pleasantly despite its small size. She enjoyed it while she could for it would be gone once dusk approached. A light would make it too easy for any patrols to spot them in the rocky shadows.
Itachi said on the opposite side of the small fire. Propped up against the rock, his dark eyes stared blankly into the flames. The light lite up his pale face, causing shadows to dance over the dark bags under his eyes and sharp cheek bones. Slumped as he was, hunched forward and an arm tossed carelessly over a bent knee, the male looked far older than he was. Nagisa's eyes were stuck on his face and the two orbs of coal placed there by the gods.
She wasn't sure how long she was staring at him when he finally made eye contact. Or, more like, he came from his own memories and finally acknowledged her. The two stared silently, pink clashing with black, as one regarded the other over the fire.
"How many Uzumaki were their left in Konoha when you resided there?" she questioned, shattering the silence with the stealth of a sledgehammer to the frontal lobe.
Itachi didn't even flinch.
Instead, the Uchiha gave a slow, languid blink. He didn't answer, allowing the silence to gather between them.
"Why did you commit genocide?"
That caught Itachi's attention. A spark of something, gone before she could really acknowledge it, flashed between their bond and Itachi smothered it.
His voice was as dry as parchment and as empty as a blank page,
"I wished to test myself."
Nagisa, knees pulled tight into her chest where her arms wrapped around them to keep in warmth, tilted her head to the side. She returned his slow blink.
"Master said much the same." Her head tilted to the other side. "Though I am more incline to believe him over you."
Itachi didn't move or break eye contact with her. Somewhere in the back of her mind common sense screamed at her to look away. It was dangerous to stare into those black orbs.
So very, very dangerous.
"You act nothing like Master. Not when it comes to becoming stronger. You train but it is not with the same drive as he or Kisame-shishou. It is a practice for you, a means to keep the blade sharp. They train to continue growing. You do not. Is this all that will become of Uchiha Itachi?"
It was probably stupid to push a known mass murderer like this. The more social adept would never had tried. But things weren't adding up to Nagisa. And they hadn't been adding up for a while. And these missing pieces were starting to grate on the kunoichi's nerves. She was an information gather, an infiltrator, and these misconnections hit every flag in her mind.
It was true what she had said. Itachi was nothing like Zabuza. There was no heat there, no passion for the fight. There was no excitement at the idea of fighting someone stronger like Zabuza or even Kisame. He didn't push himself every day. Not to the same point Kisame did. She didn't sense the droning under his skin at the taste of battle. And they had had their own fair share of fights since leaving Ame. More than one foolish group of bandits thinking them weak targets. Most of the time it had been Kisame that tore them bit to bit while Itachi waited with her.
There just wasn't any…push. Any need to prove one's self. See how far he could go. Nothing like that. Naruto and Sasuke both practically burst with the sensation and even Kisame couldn't hid it when presented with a fight.
If anything Itachi's energy was just so…Haku. A reluctance that was sheathed when push finally came to shove.
The young kunoichi couldn't stop the light scowl from scrunching her nose.
"Do you know how one activates the sharingan?" Itachi questioned, breaking the girl from her thoughts. She was almost thankful for that. It felt a lot like a dog chasing its own tail. Pulling up as few memories as she could of Sasuke's awakening on the bridge, she guessed,
"Being pushed to the brink."
Itachi's head moved side to side an inch.
"By feeling pain. Only through the rage and misery of breaking bonds forged can one achieve the sharingan."
Nagisa frowned. She had been there when Sasuke had activated his sharingan in his fight against Haku. There hadn't necessarily been a fight of pain. Stress and hardship yes but not rage and misery. If she remembered correctly, Sasuke had been excited when he had fought Haku the second time.
"Did you form a bond with Sasuke?"
Nagisa felt her body stiffen. Itachi gave no inclination with his tone or facial expression but the sentence set every hair on Nagisa's body stand on end. Suddenly feeling like a mouse in an open field with a hawk's shadow on her back, Nagisa froze. She knew the young man wasn't speaking of bonds of friendship or anything as sentimental. No, he was speaking of the bond shared just like them.
Once more Nagisa was reminded of just how dangerous it was to form such connections with people she couldn't necessarily trust. Gaara had been a panicked mistake, one that she had made in a desperate attempt to survive. Itachi…Itachi's bonding had just been her wishful thinking.
"Yes," slipped past her lips at a whisper.
The young kunoichi wasn't sure if taking Itachi continuing as he was as a blessing or a curse. She was thankful she didn't find a kunai in her throat but she remained stiff as the stone under her backside, waiting for him to react.
"Hn."
Silence choked the air between girl and man. But it was this tense, oppressive silence that had Nagisa voicing her next thought.
"Are you and Sasuke the only remaining sharingan users?"
Nagisa almost fled the cave when Itachi turned ice cold eyes on her. Those were the eyes of a killer. But she remained rooted where she was. Some sixth sense telling her running was the last thing she wanted to do while facing this monster.
"Why?"
Voice like ice injected under her skin. Her finger's tightened around the pants encasing her ankles. Pink tongue wetting lips that were painful dry.
"Why?" Itachi asked a second time, his words accompanied by a controlled spear of killing intent. Red came to life in the span of a blink. Nagisa felt a cold sweat burst out across her skin. Tomoe swirled slowly around a pinprick pupil.
"I've felt them…" There was no change to Itachi's face but she heard the unspoken 'go on'. Her tongue raced out to flash across her lips a second time. "I recognize them…their chakra. It's all the same. A…a pull, like sludge clinging to your form. Pulling everything from you into its clutches."
She wanted to look away from the red but found it impossible. Her heart beat rapidly against her ribs. Memories, memories she so desperately tried to keep pinned away in the deepest darkest pits of her mind, bubbled up. Clawing their way up her spine with their frozen finger tips searing into her brain.
"When did you feel this?"
"During my trial. When they were deciding if I would remain in Konoha after the Hokage's death and my aiding Orochimaru."
"You helped Orochimaru?" Nagisa felt her nails bit through the cloth of her pants. It was the only thing that stopped her hands from shaking.
"He promised he would bring them back," she whispered. Finally, finally she was able to pull her eyes away from Itachi even if it was only to closer her own against the memories bubbling to close to the surface. "He lied."
Silence choked the very air between them.
It only ended with Itachi saying,
"There was only one Uzumaki when I was in Konoha."
'Well…that narrows it down.'
They left the shore the next day, turning into the mountains. Nagisa was positive the way Itachi chose was actually an animal path but that didn't faze the men. Quickly the path rose high, the group walking more vertical than horizontal. And the path into the mountains was a dangerous one; that is, dangerous for non-shinobi. Barely a foot across in width and parallel with a steep drop that lead straight into a ravine and another sheer wall of rock.
Nagisa couldn't have felt safer nestled between Itachi's back and Kisame's front.
Though it was beginning to annoy her when she felt Kisame's hand constantly going to her side anytime he thought she might make a misstep.
They had been climbing the mountain since dawn and it was nearing noon. They didn't stop to break but rather Kisame forced water down her throat on a regular basis and made sure she ate a ration bar but only in small bites that he handed her. The look on her face must have tipped him off to her growing irritation because half way through the bar he snipped,
"Don't need you falling down because you're not paying attention."
"I am not four." Kisame snorted.
"Could have fooled me. Don't look back! Eyes forward." Nagisa gnashed her teeth together but kept on Itachi's heels.
Nagisa wasn't sure how Itachi found the entrance they were looking for. She was half convinced he already knew it was there. But come across a door he did. It was really more of a stone slab nestled into the mountain side. Nagisa felt Itachi's sharingan burst to life while he stared the door down. They stood out on the mountain for another few minutes, Nagisa hunkering back into Kisame when a harsh wind blew. All of them hurried into the door when Itachi finally did something and it swung outward.
"Stay alert," Kisame ordered when the door shut and cast them into darkness. Nagisa instantly burst chakra from her feet and filled the tunnel with a light coating. She watched as the world around her appeared as a silver outline to her mind's eye.
They were in a tunnel. It was round and Kisame barely fit the ceiling was so short. If she extended her chakra out just a little bit she could see his head brush the rock any time he moved. They were on the only flat part of the tunnel with a sharp decline only inches away from Itachi's feet.
That didn't stop the young shinobi. She assumed that was due to his sharingan still on, the only thing giving light in the otherwise pitch black world. Itachi began the descent and Kisame pushed Nagisa on to follow. She continued to use her chakra to make sure there were no surprises at her feet or traps they would be unaware of.
They persistent down the tunnel in the dark long enough for Nagisa to wonder if it would ever end. No sooner had that thought enter her mind that they were assaulted by torches bursting to life on either side of them. She felt Kisame's body move swiftly to grasp his blade but Itachi made no such move. Instead he continued downward, following the rock hewed stairs that had appeared out of nowhere. Like walking into a different dimension the rough tunnel turned into a pleasant stairwell. Every twenty stairs more torches burst to life giving them plenty of light.
The light up portion of the tunnel was nowhere near as long as the darkness. Soon enough, they came upon the end of the tunnel which was another stone door. This time the seal was obviously painted on the front, reaching from the ceiling to the floor.
"This will take a moment," Itachi said while his sharingan began to swirl. Nagisa glanced at Kisame over her shoulder before at the back of Itachi's head. With a quick lick of her lips she skirted around the Uchiha and in front of the seal.
"Peaches—"
"I have this." Nagisa placed her hand in the middle of the seal and closed her eyes. Chakra flooded the black ink showing Nagisa all she needed to see. Filling portions and connecting dots that made up the seal's interior before it could set off any alarms or cause any traps to go off. With her chakra filling the seal completely, there was a soft noise of rock scraping against rock before the door swung inward.
A stereotypical Kumo shinobi stood on the other side. A greeting was on the tip of his tongue even while his eyes went wide with the realization they weren't who he was expecting.
Before Nagisa could even more Itachi was in front of her and locking eyes with the guard. The guard's eyes glazed over, watching things only visible to him, before slumping back against the rock wall. Itachi walked away without a backwards glance. It was Kisame's hand pushing her on that had Nagisa following him.
"Stay close," the swordsman told her in a soft rumble. Nagisa skirted closer to Itachi's back.
But not before sending her chakra flowing through the floor and up into the Kumo's feet. Her chakra assaulted his system enough to break the genjutsu his mind was under. Pink clashed with black for a mere moment while the sentry watched their backs without making a noise. His shaking hands and wide eyes were the last thing she saw before they turned a corner.
They only crossed one more guard on the way in and Itachi dispatched him as easily as he had the first. Nagisa didn't bother awakening the second. The first should be enough if he was smart enough. After that, it was a simple matter of Nagisa releasing the seal on another stone door. Though simple was probably not the appropriate word as the seal itself was difficult and she almost set off a trap door underneath them. But her chakra overpowered the seal in the end and with a light push of her hand, the stone door swung open.
The group entered what was clearly a library. Shelves reaching up to the low ceiling with pocket holes for scrolls and planks for books. The entire room was chockful with the stench of must and old books. But there was no dust to be seen. Nagisa wondered if that was the due to someone taking an interest or a jutsu.
"This way Peaches," Kisame ordered. He and Itachi split up, each going different directions with Nagisa on Kisame's heels. Keeping the swordsman in the corner of her eye, Nagisa began to roam the scrolls and files. Most of it was simple history and forgotten missions. She actually found one dating back to the first Raikage. Kisame walked right past the elder text and to the 'new' section. Not that one could actually tell which ones were new or old based on sight alone. They all looked much the same thanks to whatever preservation jutsu was in place.
"Peaches." Nagisa jerked before scurrying closer to Kisame who had gotten further away than she realized. When Nagisa was close enough Kisame knelt down and began to rifle through the bottom of a shelf.
What felt like hours but was really less than one passed and finally their target was found. Kisame pulled himself up from a middle shelf (still too low for his height to see without kneeling), a scroll in hand. He called out for Itachi in a normal voice. The young shinobi was at their side in a split second.
And praise be for the young man's quick feet for not another second later shuriken were raining down on them. One of Kisame's massive arms wrapped around her and his partner, throwing them backwards while Samehada bashed away any shuriken that would have hit them.
The library was filled with Kumo shinobi. Nagisa recognized one of them as the first sentry. His eyes clashed with hers a second time but no longer held the fear she had seen earlier. Strength in numbers played heavily with one's confidence. But Nagisa knew his reinforcements wouldn't be enough; no matter what she hoped. He hadn't brought enough to really bring down Itachi or Kisame.
"Surrender or die," one of the shinobi told them briskly.
"Flee or become meat," Kisame responded with a bright smirk that flashed every single one of his sharp teeth. The one who spoke narrowed his eyes. On some single Nagisa didn't see they were bombarded. Nagisa was forced back, away from the fighting while Itachi and Kisame charged forth. "Peaches." Nagisa perked up and watched Kisame toss the scroll at her.
It landed in her hand, dry and cool to the touch.
Nagisa looked up, prepared to defend the targeted item while Kisame and Itachi defeated their opponents. As she turned, prepared to rush deeper into the library, Nagisa's eyes landed on the door.
The path to the outside world was clear.
Nagisa' head tilted to the side, eyes flashing over Kisame and Itachi who were behind her and therefore away from the door.
It was the look in Kisame's eyes that gave her pause. Her mind froze the battle around her as they locked on each other. Samehada raised high to stop a kusarigama from slamming down into Kisame's shoulder while said man was raising his foot to kick the attacker away. Two others were coming around his back in hopes of using their comrade's attack. Itachi, occupied by three who had decided to sacrifice themselves by throwing their weight up against the Uchiha. She could feel another raining down on her own back.
None of this matter for the split second that Nagisa caught hold of the sheer emotion in Kisame's eyes. His eyes had just snapped to her after seeing where she was pointed. She saw the recognition of what she could do flash in his dark orbs. 'No,' his eyes said with the promise of pain should she chose the wrong path. Something else was flickered beneath the threat. Something small and delicate that whispered 'stay'.
And for a second she almost did.
It would be simple.
Kisame made sense in ways that Konoha never did. She knew what was expected of her and what she had to do to every day. There was no strange rituals or bonds she had to maintain in order to be considered 'normal'. Things were just simple. She woke up, she trained, she ate and she went to bed. No thought, no emotion just a simple plan placed before her by someone that was stronger. It was what she knew. She knew in the mornings she would wake up beside Kisame and he would feed her and make her stronger and take care of any and all other needs.
No one would take her away from him because he said so.
But…
Naruto had almost died while she was away. She knew exactly what it was that had happened when she had passed out all those weeks ago. She remembered Naruto's chakra, mixed with that disgusting burning force that still left twinges of pain throughout her system, screaming out to hers despite the distance between them. And she remembered the panic she had felt when she'd answered the call and found the boy's chakra near depleted. Like water gurgling down a drain as it sucked it down in to the deep dark depths. She had thrown everything she was into that emptying tub. Because she had known that if everything had disappeared down that drain there would no longer be a Naruto to return to.
When she had awoken after the 'punishment' delivered by Kisame, Nagisa had realized something.
Naruto wasn't allowed to die.
She cared about him with, while perhaps not the same intensity she had cared for Haku or Zabuza, but still a level that surprised her. The very thought of Naruto dying sent her heart racing and her palms sweating.
And if he died while she was away, unable to help him…
Kisame saw the moment when Nagisa made up her mind. It was accompanied by a thunderous,
"Nagisa!" echoing throughout the small library but the kunoichi was already out the door. Kisame's resounding roar shook the very mountain. It only spurred Nagisa on faster. She knew her time was limited. Already she could hear the death throes of Kisame's enemies. When she made it to the stairs she realized one of the Kumo shinobi was following her.
Nagisa slammed her body into the entrance which rocketed on its 'hinges'. And almost lost her head when a Kumo shinobi swung her blade. Nagisa ducked under it and flew past the small guard. Instead of running down the small path she launched herself over the side and skidded down the steep slope. Her chakra swathed feet broke the feeble hold of the mountain side causing a rock slide to barrel down in her wake.
That didn't stop the Kumo shinobi from giving chase.
Or the blood splattered Kisame.
Nagisa skied to the side when a fire ball was shot at her head. Using her momentum to chance course towards the direction of the ocean she knew was near. Out of the corner of her eye she saw two of the shinobi tailing her stopped to face off with Kisame. Nagisa put on another burst of speed as Samehada crushed the other sword wielding lady into a pile of blood and bone. Nagisa didn't need to turn around to know that Kisame wasn't paying attention to his opponents; she could feel his eyes burning holes into the back of her skull.
She knew she'd never make it to the ocean itself at this right. Kisame was catching up on her faster and with more single minded determinism than a charging bull. It was why she proceeded to change course again, this time allowing herself to go straight down the mountain side and towards the ravine. With blood pounding in her ears she just barely heard Kisame scream her name a second time.
Going over the edge of the ravine was strangely peaceful. It took gravity a moment to overpower velocity. And in that moment Nagisa felt the suspension she also felt something she hadn't since leaving Konoha; freedom. She was so close now she could taste it. No longer trapped in a tower with no contact with the outside world but rather free to feel the clouded sun on her back and taste the salty air.
And then she was falling.
Wind howled in her ears drowning everything else out. Her eyes tried to tear up to help with the sudden dryness but it was useless. Blurred vision took in the smooth walls on either side and knew it would be near impossible for her to use chakra to grab hold.
But…engraved into the bottom of the ravine was a strip of white. Nagisa recognized the roaring river that had been cutting through the mountain for eons. Her mind whirled with possibilities before coming to a staggering halt as a crushed body flew past her. Forced to fly pass her by the force it had been thrown, Nagisa's saw the glazed look and knew the man was dead.
Her head tilted back and saw the speck that was Kisame. She couldn't see his face but she could imagine what it would look like. Nagisa was very happy she was a good few hundred feet away from him.
Nagisa focused on the bigger situation at hand then; the ever growing threat of becoming a splattered red smear on the ground getting closer and closer. She quickly placed the scroll into the folds of her cloak and, once close enough to the water threw her hands through the signs necessary for,
"Water Doppelganger." Her mimic pulled itself from the water's surface and looked up at her. "Kawarimi no Jutsu." The pull was instant and in a blink of an eye and flash of chakra Nagisa found herself on the river's surface. But she hadn't prepared for the water itself and was instantly pulled under by the rapids. Her doppelganger hit the water's surfaces seconds after her and shattered into a thousand water drops from the force.
Nagisa burst from the water with a painful gasp. Treading water, she raced chakra through her arm and pulled herself up into a kneeling position on the surface. The waves rocked her up and down causing her to slip occasional and sink back in. She struggled to her feet before looking back inland. She saw nothing but the high mountains, the ravine she had just been spit from and other deep cuts into the mountain's side caused by other rivers.
She couldn't go back to land. She knew down to her bones that Kisame would be there soon, following the ravine to either find her or collect her body. She'd seen that promise in his eyes when she'd run. Nagisa's eyes glazed along the coast. But she knew she couldn't do that either. Itachi and Kisame would be heading home without the scroll. The only way home would be through the Land of Shimo and Yu which she would also need to transverse before she reached Fire. They would follow the coast, searching for her and the scroll she carried.
Nagisa looked back out to the ocean. Memories of the elemental nations flooded her mind.
If she was right the archipelago that connected the Land of Lightning with the Land of Fire was in front of her. If not…
Nagisa walked towards the horizon.
Shikamaru barely finished ascending the stairs when the blinding orange assaulted his eyes for the first time in what felt like forever.
"Naruto?" he grunted, squinting lightly. The shinobi registration was so dark in comparison to the open stairs and Naruto's color palate. He noted Naruto wasn't alone but rather accompanied by three strangers. From Nagisa's words he could assume the giant man was Naruto's current sensei. "What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing! The only building around here is the shinobi administration." Shikamaru grimaced already feeling way too tired to deal with Naruto's quirks. He grudgingly shrugged a shoulder while rubbing tiredly at his neck.
"Nothing really, just taking care of annoying business." And it was really annoying. How could they be making him do this when he couldn't even keep a single person safe?
It was his father taking a step forward and going into a bow that pulled Shikamaru from his running thoughts. Thoughts that were constantly nagging at him worse than his mother ever could. Just a constant state of whirling around and around in the back of his head where he couldn't do anything with them.
"How are you, Tsunade-hime? Jiraiya-sama?" The blond lady's brows shot up her forehead while her eyes raced across him and his father.
"Aren't you from the Nara family? Shika…Shikamasa? That was it wasn't it?" Shikaku's face twisted into something soft but bitter.
"My late brother actually. I'm Shikaku." The lady's face flashed into something void for a mere second before she gave a nod of her head.
"My condolences. I remember you now. Are you taking care of your deer? Their antlers make good medicine."
"Yes ma'am." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed before he leaned in close to Naruto. The boy got the message and leaned in as well.
"Who's that bossy lady?"
"She's the new Hokage. Oh, and although she looks young, she's really fifty!" Shikamaru choked on air not sure if he was more stunned by the title or the age. She looked younger than his mom! But if she was the new Hokage—
Tsunade walked up to Shikaku and placed her hand down firmly on the man's shoulder. Leaning in closer, she whispered something into his ear before walking off at a strut. Shikamaru was quick to take in his father's stunned expression along with the fire that seemed to light in his eyes that had appeared quite lifeless as of late.
But Shikamaru didn't get to study his father long because Naruto was quick to grab his attention by jumping in his face.
"By the way Shikamaru! You better be prepared! After we get Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei healed up, we're going after Nagisa!"
"What?"
"What?"
Jiraiya's fist smashed down on top of Naruto's head sending the boy caving in on himself.
"What are you going on about you idiot?" From his kneeling position, hands on top of the rising welt not on his skull, Naruto scowled fiercely.
"You said that I couldn't go after them until I was stronger! Well I'm stronger now!"
"I didn't say that!"
"You insinuated it!"
"Do you even know what that word means?" Jiraiya moaned and pinched his nose between thumb and finger with eyes squeezed tight. "No, it doesn't matter anyway. You're not going after them. End of discussion."
Shikamaru jerked backwards as Naruto burst to his full height and bellowed,
"I'm not just going to abandon her!" All eyes were on Naruto as the boy stood in front of them displaying high levels of hostility. Shikamaru would later swear the boy's eyes flashed red. But he was at an odd angle and Naruto only had eyes for Jiraiya. "I've waited! I've pushed myself tenfold to get stronger! I've listened to you telling me wait, wait, wait! Well I'm done waiting! Every day we wait is another day Nagisa is with them!"
"Naruto—"
"No! You don't feel what I do!" Naruto's aggressive posture caved in as the boy gripped his stomach with both hands, fingers kneading into the orange jacket. "You don't get the flashes I do! She's been hurt! And every time I sense her she's exhausted! And—and she keeps getting further away! And the times I sense her are getting further and further apart! And—"
Naruto forced himself to freeze and focus on breathing steadily as Shikaku knelt down in front of him. The jōnin put both hands on Naruto's shoulders.
"I understand your fear Naruto. And I understand your need to help her." Naruto stared into Shikaku face trying not to panic at the defeated look that lurked in the shadows of his eyes. His hands tightened on his shoulders. "But we can't risk sending you. We don't know where they took her, we don't know their number, and we don't know anything about the enemy. The only thing we can do now is wait." Shikaku breathed deeply before forcing Naruto to meet his heavy gaze. "We wait and trust that Nagisa will do what she must to survive until we can get to her. Don't discount her just yet Naruto. Nagisa is strong and she survived for a long time on her own."
Naruto took in a deep breath that quaked on the way in. His head bobbed up and down. Shikaku smiled and messed Naruto's hair while standing up.
"Good. Come by the house when you get a chance. I was able to round up a few more books I'm sure you'll like."
"Thanks Shika-oji."
The group split then with the others leaving the two Nara, Naruto scurrying off with a stone face but plenty of energy.
Nagisa realizes she may have made a mistake as she looked down at the round eyed of an investigating shark. She didn't want to use her chakra more than she had to, therefore there was little spared to keep her body cool from the abrasive sun. She wished to desperately shed her black cloak but knew the second the sun went down the freezing cold would be upon her.
Eyeing the shark who was bobbing closer and closer to her foot Nagisa continued walking.
It was after dinner that Naruto finally made it to the Nara Compound. He was feeling much better after having ramen with Iruka-sensei. Though he was a little hopeful that Shikamaru's mom had made something. The woman was a great cook.
Knowing the path like the back of his hand now, the boy trotted up to the front door and knocked. He didn't have to wait long before Yoshino appeared.
"Oh, Naruto," she said in greeting. The woman picked up her apron and dried her hands.
"Shikamaru said you'd be by."
"Hiya, Shikamaru's mom! He said I could come over," the blond was quick to get out. Yoshino gave a small smile.
"Of course you are. He's out back 'working.' Happy to see you made it home by the way. Shikaku tells me you even helped bring the new Hokage home." Naruto nodded his head wildly while eyeing the woman's side. He wanted to slip past but Iruka said it was rude to leave during the middle of a conversation no matter how uncomfortable he was unless he was in danger. "Well then, thank you for your services. Just head on back, Shikamaru's on the porch."
Permission granted, Naruto fled past and through the house. He found Shikamaru easily enough for the shoji door was open.
"Yo!" he greeted while eyeing the mess around the Nara. Scrolls were laid out in a semicircle with books and papers scattered in between. Naruto tiptoed through the mess and found Shikamaru staring at a map pinned to the porch in front of him. Different colored pins littered the nations. "What are you doing?" Shikamaru didn't look up as he placed a yellow tipped pin in Waterfall. Naruto flopped down in front of him so as to not disturb anything.
"I'm trying to speculate where they've taken her."
Instantly, Naruto's interest rose a hundred fold. Eyeing the displayed items with more significance he motioned for the other boy to go on. Shikamaru lightly tapped a red tipped pine in the middle of the map.
"They went east. Da and the others found them near the broader here." Shikamaru then drug his finger a small ways to the only other red pin. Naruto recognized the spot as the small town he had last seen her. "This is where she was taken. They practically went in a straight line east." Shikamaru motioned to the orange pins. "It would be foolish to go straight to your hideout when a team could be tracking you. But if your destination is on the other side of the continent it would be even more foolish to go in the wrong direction. And they traveled to close to the boarder for them to be going to Kiri or Kumo or any of the other islands despite having Hoshigaki on their team.
"They could have been going as far as Yama or Kuma though from what I understand there's nothing really in Yama after the war and Hoshigakure no Sato doesn't really have a reason to do much of anything. They stick to themselves." Shikamaru pointed to Wind. "Suna may have had a part, wanting to get back after the defeat. If I knew why they captured Nagisa—"
Naruto's stomach plummeted making him feel an intense need to throw up. The world spun on him for a moment and Shikamaru's voice suddenly seemed far away.
"Me," he choked out though his brain made the connection that Shikamaru was still talking. Shikamaru's face twisted into a scowl. Naruto's stuttering brain finally picked up on the heavy shadows under the brunette's eyes. It was those bags that let Naruto recognize the other signs of exhaustion: pale skin seemingly to tight on sharp edges, hair looking somehow duller and yet oilier at the same time.
"Huh?"
"They were after me," Naruto repeated. It felt like he'd summoned a frog in his throat.
"What? Why would they—" The blond looked away from Shikamaru, no longer able to keep his eyes on the boy's too pale face. Instead, he firmly stuck his eyes to the red pin showing Nagisa's capture.
He felt sick. Sure the demon in his belly helped him with chakra and healed him up sometimes but…but he also caused him so many problems. His entire childhood hated because of something out of his control and now the reason why Nagisa had been taken away. Naruto shoved his hands under his arms and squeezed himself tight trying his best to ignore the ocean of self-loathing that crashed into him from seemingly nowhere.
"Stop."
Naruto jerked hard, flinching away from the voice and caving in on himself a bit more.
"Seriously, stop that Naruto." Blue eyes flashed up to see Shikamaru rubbing tiredly at his own. Letting out a tired sigh the boy said, "If you don't want to tell me why they were after you that's fine but stop blaming yourself for Nagisa's actions. She's been protecting your hide since she got here. That she got caught doing it again isn't any surprise." Shikamaru removed his hand to stare abrasively with a stern glare. "Stop blaming yourself for her idiosyncrasy. Just focus on helping me get her back and getting stronger so she doesn't have to throw her dumbass self in front of you anymore."
The Nara went back to the map in front of him.
It took Naruto another minute before he felt calm enough to continue.
"Thanks," he mumbled.
"Hn. Anyway, that answers a few questions I had. If they were original after you for whatever reason, it would make sense to grab Nagisa if that Toad Sage guy showed up. They were probably hoping you'd give chase." Naruto's cheeks flushed and he decided it was best to hold his tongue on that observation. "And then one of them was a Seven Swordsman right?"
"Yeah, he was this giant fish guy."
Shikamaru grabbed the book next to his thigh and skimmed through a few pages. When he found the right one he held it out.
"This guy?" Naruto looked and found a picture of the swordsman. He looked younger, and not as snarky, but it was definitely him. Unless Kiri had a bunch of blue gilled guys running around.
"Yeah, that's him!" Shikamaru grabbed a red marker and put a giant check mark up near the top.
"And the other was Sasuke's brother right? Uchiha Itachi?"
"Yep!"
"Okay…so—"
"What book is that?"
"A bingo book. Chūnin and up get them apparently. This is the latest edition." Naruto squirmed closer and peered in as Shikamaru flipped through pages. "So they're both S-ranked missing-nin. So obviously, that means whoever their part of—"
"The Akatsuki!"
"Okay then, the Akatsuki, means that they probably aren't affiliated with any village. Otherwise they'd have changed their hitai-ate. They didn't right?"
"No."
"Good. And if they came after you, a genin, than they probably aren't the leader."
"Why—"
"Leaders don't do errands. Ever see the Hokage running around picking things up and dropping things off?" Naruto's face light up with realization. "Exactly. So if this leader guy is sending out S-ranked shinobi then he's gotta be an S-ranked shinobi himself. And there aren't a lot in here. Thirty max." Shikamaru flipped through some more, dog earring some of the pages as he went.
"But we can't just assume they only have S-ranked shinobi. That would make their organization pretty small especially since not all of them are defected."
Shikamaru put the book down in his lap and looked down at the map again. He rubbed thoughtfully at his chin while moving his finger from one pin to the next.
"They're most likely based in one of the smaller nations. No big nation is going to let someone like those two just hang out. And it'd be easier to hide in a smaller nation. Less shinobi."
Shikamaru paused and happened to look up at the time. Naruto's slack jawed expression of awe gave him pause.
"…what?"
"You're really smart Shikamaru." The Nara sighed heavily. He rubbed tiredly at his eyes again.
"If you're not going to help—"
"Ah! No! I'm sorry! Yeah, small counties makes sense! Go on, go on!" Shikamaru pinched his nose and heaved out another sigh.
This was going to be a long night.
Nagisa continued to put one foot in front of the other. The ocean, a black mass underneath her, swallowed up any light the remaining sliver of moon blessed her with. Millions of stars twinkled brightly above her seeming to stretch on for all eternity. She yawned lightly but gave herself a good shake to stay awake. Nagisa knew she'd get her second wind soon.
She silently cursed the fact she had no soldier pellets.
But at least she had ration bars.
Even if it was only two.
Shikaku flopped down on the stoop and grudgingly took his sandals off. When they were lined up with the others Shikaku noted a smaller, bright blue pair. They were nestled between Shikamaru's that were practically the same pair and the dark black ones that hadn't been moved in months.
Exhaustion settled heavily on his shoulders. His head fell into his hands and he rubbed tiredly at his temples.
Very little was going the way he wanted right now. But at least they had a new Hokage. Eventually he would be free from a portion of the burdens thrown at him since the Chūnin Exams. Though it looked like he was being given another task…
Tsunade-hime, though Shikaku supposed he should start calling her Hokage-sama, flipped through Kakashi's chart with brown eyes narrowed.
"You have a serious knack for pushing yourself too far." The Sanin narrowed her eyes at the silver haired jōnin. He kept his eyes firmly on his little orange book. "And it's contagious apparently." With a powerful huff, Tsunade slapped the chart back on the end of Kakashi's bed and crossed her arms. "I want everything on the current situation now."
There was a moment of silence as the three men in the room shared uncertain glances.
"Well…would you like me to start at the very beginning or—" Kakashi asked, finally glancing up but looking ready to shield himself in the pages at a moment's notice.
"Jiraiya has filled me in a bit. Start with the enemy that so thoroughly kicked your ass since they appear to be the biggest issue." Kakashi huffed and let his book flop down into his lap.
"She appeared out of nowhere. I don't even know how she knew they were there or that we were fighting. But all of a sudden she was in the thick of everything. I was trying to get her to flee when the little brat jammed a pressure point. I don't remember much after that, only what I was told. But I don't believe their initial response was to take her."
"No, I don't think it was either," Jiraiya agreed. "It wasn't until Naruto spilled the beans on Nagisa being Zabuza's student that she was really acknowledged."
"Kiri is known for their possessiveness for their swordsmen," Shikaku affirmed. "Maybe Hoshigaki mistaken her for Momochi's protégé." Tsunade tossed her head back in thought.
"Have there been any sightings since your interaction?"
"No physical sightings. But her teammates have all expressed feeling her through the 'bond' she shares with them, including Shikamaru."
"And what exactly is this 'bond' thing anyway? You all keep talking about it but—"
"She called it a kekkai genkai." Tsunade turned an annoyed expression on Kakashi.
"I've never heard of Kiri having sensory blood lines."
"Perhaps she's the first."
"Or the disadvantage outweighs the benefit. While it has seemed helpful it's also been a hindrance. After Zabuza and his other ward Haku died Nagisa has not been the same sense."
"But is that strange considering the fact Zabuza was practically the girl's father?"
"Perhaps not but the girl definitely needs social interactions. More so than perhaps what can be considered normal."
"And then we have the others and their desperation to get her back. Even though they've only known each other for less than six months."
"And that's the true crux of our issue. We can't have their target going after them, especially not Naruto." Tsunade turned on Shikaku. "You said you had books for him? The sealing techniques?" Shikaku nodded, surprised that Tsunade knew. "Good. We need to keep the boy distracted. I can see him going off on his own and we can't have that happening."
"He's interested enough in fūinjutsu I can keep him occupied for a while longer."
"He's interested in learning teleportation," Tsunade offered causing Jiraiya to go wide eyed. "And he's already on the cusp of it." Jiraiya serious expression turned into an amazed smile.
"Of course he is."
"And I want you to help out Shikaku. You seemed to be able to handle him pretty well."
Shikaku groaned at the memory and the shoes still in front of him.
'Most difficult assignment yet,' he sighed while standing up and walking into the house. He made a stop in his office and grabbed the small stack of books he had been saving for Naruto. Finding the boy was an easy enough feat as the boy's voice echoed. And the fact Yoshino was watching them through the shoji doors helped.
"Why not Tetsu?"
"I told you! Tetsu has always remained neutral. They wouldn't tolerate having rouge shinobi in their lands cause that would just cause trouble!"
"But—"
"What are they doing?" Yoshino spared him a glance with a weak smile.
"Trying to decide where they may have taken her." Shikaku felt like he had been physically punched, squeezing his eyes shut and taking in a deep breath. When he opened them Yoshino was watching the boys with miserable expression. "They've been at it none stop since he got here."
"Tenacity is such an annoying trait." He made sure to kiss Yoshino on the forehead before going out on to the porch.
"Have you two had dinner?" he asked, breaking the heated argument the two boys were getting in. Two young faces whirled up to him looking guilty. Letting out what felt like his hundred sigh that day, Shikaku motioned towards the house. "Put your stuff up and come inside. Naruto, I have the books I promised you."
Naruto was instantly by his side bouncing with energy.
"Whoa! Thanks Shika-oji!" Shikamaru scrambled to gather up all his items as if he didn't want Shikaku to see. It was a little late for that but Shikaku let him have his illusion. He handed Naruto the books and watched the boy begin to devour one of them. Shikamaru came up behind Naruto as the blond walked into the house. Shikaku made sure to run his hand over his son's head before following them both in.
The Hokage may have only addressed one of the boys but Shikaku knew he would really have to watch out for both.
He couldn't live with himself if they went after Nagisa because he knew they would never make it home.
She couldn't string a single though together by the time she reached the island. Only,
'Walk…walk…walk,' on repeat playing through her mind again and again kept her moving. Her energy, so low there were a few times where she had passed out only to be woken up abruptly by falling into the water below her feet.
The moon was high when she finally made it to the island. Unable to do anything else but put on foot in front of the other, Nagisa pulled herself up onto the shore and into the town. The city was dead but Nagisa still did her best through the cloud of exhaustion to find a quite alley and huddled herself between trash bins.
She was out before she fully sat down.
It was a harsh poking against her cheek that finally pulled her from the depths of unconsciousness. Crusted eyes peeled apart with great reluctance in order to investigate.
When the blurriness left her eyes Nagisa was able to focus on the twig stabbing into her cheek. At the other end of the stick was a young child, younger than her by a few years. Already big eyes were made bigger by round glasses. Said eyes went wider when Nagisa caught them with a bland expression. A moment of tense silence before the stick was shoved at her face again.
Nagisa snapped the stick in a tight fist.
She watched the boy pout out a bottom lip with eyes narrowing. The suspicion on his face was so obvious Nagisa thought him even younger than his features suggested.
"Are you a mermaid?"
Nagisa blinked.
The boy's face twisted.
"I asked if you were a mermaid," he repeated. Nagisa turned away and glanced down at her own form. Her hands were still sunburned and she could feel said burn still on her cheeks. She would need to be mindful of sun poisoning for the next few weeks. But her chakra was recovering from the comatose state she had been in she could tell.
Nagisa snapped out of her musing when something came at her fast. She flung her head to the side, eyeing the tomato sliding down the wall behind her head. Eyes narrowed into slits she turned back to the boy who was looking quite pleased with himself.
"You're a mermaid right? Father told me about them. He said they were beautiful women who appeared from the surf. And if you caught one they'd grant you a wish. And I caught you—"
"Did you?" Nagisa almost smirked when the boy about jumped out of his skin as he realized she had appeared behind him. The boy let out a small shrike and scooted forward before whipping around to face her.
Pink eyes ran up and down the boy's small form, taking in the fine stitching of his clothes and his clean appearance. His hair shimmered in the light as a sign of good nutrition while his skin was clear with health. A merchant's son then versus a fisherman's.
"Don't do that!" the boy ordered fiercely. Nagisa huffed.
'Definitely not a fisherman's son,' she snorted. No lower class's son would take that tone with anyone. That was the command of someone who gave orders and expected them to be followed. It was his rotten luck that Nagisa wasn't one to follow orders from children.
"Grant me a wish!" Nagisa didn't even bother giving the boy another glance. She instead started back towards the entrance of the ally. She didn't know how far away she was from the Land of Lightning but she knew she wanted to get as far away as humanely possible. The ocean trail would have shook Kisame off her trail for a short while but soon he'd figure it out especially if Itachi was in the mood to help him.
But with a glance out of the alley, Nagisa saw a very big issue. A sea of brunettes and ebony locks made up the port now as the sun was high. Worn fabrics hung to frames of all shapes and sizes as the stench of fish wafted high into the air. Sun kissed skin versus the lobster red on pale white.
If Kisame came hunting to this island all he had to do was ask and every single one of those men and women out there would be able to place her. Even their children mistaken her for a mermaid versus someone from the Land of Water. A disguise was needed if she wanted to make it through the market without leaving a blazing trail behind her.
But the young kunoichi mistook just how much chakra reservation she had left. Forcing a henge on her body had her knees bucking and her shoulder hitting the wall again. A horrendous noise erupted from her stomach as it let her know just how long it had been since she had last eaten. Nagisa slumped against the wall and fell back to her backside. Her blurring vision noted she'd at least kept the henge. But if she didn't get up soon she'd be forced to release it and she knew she didn't have the energy to cast another.
"Here." Nagisa jerked her head back as something was shoved into her face. Following the object up Nagisa saw that the boy hadn't left like she had hoped. Instead, he now stood in front of her with what looked like a whole slew of fish on a stick. Nagisa ripped the plate out of the boy's hand and shoved the salty marine life into her mouth. Her stomach revolted from the sudden dispense of sugar from the sauce but she didn't stop until all of it was gone. It was still warm and Nagisa couldn't help but wonder how long she'd been trying to get up from the wall since it was obvious the boy had just bought the food.
"…will you grant me a wish now?" Nagisa licked her fingers clean of salt and sweet before flicking her eyes up to the boy. The hopeful, yet reproachful, expression on his face had her tilting her head to the side.
"What do you wish?" She wasn't magic but for a child his age the request was probably simple. Something like getting a toy or obtaining something he lost perhaps. A simple request she could fulfill now since the boy had gotten her food and made it that much easier for her. A small something to return the karma.
"I want my mom to rejoin us at the castle."
'A vassal's son then…' Nagisa pondered while watching the hope burn bright into the boy's eyes. It was that hope that had Nagisa assuming the worse. He was young enough that perhaps when she 'left' he still wasn't able to understand death and no one had bothered to tell their master's son the horrific news that mother was never coming home.
"It is impossible," she told him blankly. The boy jerked as if she had physically hit him. Instantly tears swarmed in his eyes and his bottom lip wobbled. Nagisa watched all of this with unblinking eyes. It made it that much easier to see when sadness turned to anger.
"But you promised!"
"I did no such thing."
"You're a mermaid! You're supposed to be able to make wishes come true! I told you my wish now make it come true!"
"Told you I saw him go this way." Nagisa's eyes rose up from the boy's flushed face to the three strangers entering the alleyway. Stereotypical men that Nagisa would expect to find in the cesspools of a bar.
"You've been wrong before," one of them scoffed, black eyes roaming over the boy. Said boy scrambled backwards, bumping into the front of Nagisa's legs. His head only came up to her belly button.
"Enough the both of you," their 'leader' snapped. The group stopped a few feet away and proceeded to pose themselves threateningly. "You're coming with us, boy. Don't put up a fuss and we won't be forced to hurt you."
"I-I'm not supposed to go with strangers! Dad said so!" the boy shouted. He was pushing hard enough in Nagisa legs that she was forced to enact chakra or be pushed over.
"Either come with us…" Nagisa's eyes became hooded as weapons were drawn. The blades were mediocre at best. Small nicks along the edge and heavy wear along the handle. They were either of poor make or they hadn't been properly cared for. "—or we make you." The leader's eyes rose to Nagisa. "Or we can punish your friend instead. You don't want your friend to die do you?"
"You would die before placing a hand on me," Nagisa stated. There was a moment of stunned silence before dark chuckles burst from the men.
"You're pretty funny girl. But don't get too excited. Just hand over your friend there and you'll get to live another day."
Nagisa glanced down at the boy before back up to her current opponents. Everything about the men screamed bandits. She could barely sense any chakra radiating from them and that wasn't even due to her own low levels of chakra. Nagisa felt the boy quaking fiercely against her legs.
'We protect civilians.'
"Fine."
The tantō plunged deep into the leader's neck spraying blood across the alley floor. Her foot slammed into the temple of another man, casting his head against the white stone with enough force to cause a sickening crunch. Using the momentum of kicking off the man's head Nagisa swung around the leader still impaled with her tantō and dragged the blade clear around his neck. When she landed on the ground the amount of energy she built up by using the leader was a pole allowed her to pierce her blood coated tantō into the back of the final opponent, piercing his heart.
Nagisa removed the blade and walked back towards the now terrified boy. He was on his backside in the dirt, his pants wet from a fear loosened bladder and shaking enough his whole body quaked. Nagisa stopped walking to him when she noticed just how terrified he really was. Instead she whipped her blade free of enemy blood and listened to the last one's death throes as his heart filled with blood. She only put the tantō away when the man was dead.
Then she waited.
The men had gone into rigamortis by the time the boy was done shaking in his own piss.
"Are you going to kill me?" he whimpered, only loud enough that Nagisa's shinobi ears could hear.
"Only if you give me reason." The boy flinched fiercely. Nagisa tilted her head watching him slowly gather himself up. His round eyes stared fearfully out from behind his glasses to the near decapitated head.
"You have to be a mermaid. Daddy said mermaids trick men and then eat them." Nagisa let out a soft snort.
"Eating their flesh would most likely result in becoming diseased. Why were they after you?" The boy shifted and finally pulled his eyes away. They settled on her stomach occasionally looking up through his eyelashes in skittish glances.
"Daddy said bad people may try and ransom me. It's why I'm not supposed to go off on my own. But I thought he was just over exaggerating."
"Hmm." Nagisa finally stepped up to the boy. He flinched slightly but didn't run. Nagisa took that as a win. "Come. I will take you home." The bluette under henge reached out her hand and left it there. The boy took his sweet time before he placed a sweaty hand in her palm.
The leader of Moon Island was an elderly man with the title of king. Long white hair groomed neatly over his shoulders while his body was draped in rich robes of bright colors.
Apparently Nagisa hadn't stumbled upon a vessel's son but rather the King's own grandson, Hikaru. The boy had escaped his guards while his father, the crowed prince, had been out in the shopping district. Their gratitude had been ginormous and the King himself had wanted to thank her. And that was how Nagisa found herself in a private parlor with the King.
"My grandson says you protected him from would be kidnappers." Nagisa made no comment causing the man's retainers and servants to bristle. One of them, an advisor she believed, stepped forward.
"You would do well to speak when spoken to girl!" Nagisa's only blinked at his loud barking. The advisor puffed up like a disgruntled rooster.
"Everyone. Please leave. I wish to speak to her alone." Both the King and Nagisa stayed still while the room emptied. The guards tried to stay but the king shooed them from the room as well. Only when they were alone and no one else occupied the room did the king speak again.
"Hikaru said he watched you kill them. Or…at least he said you killed them. In the blink of an eye they men were dead. He's convinced you're a mermaid and it was magic that you used."
Her outer appearance didn't change in the least but internally Nagisa screamed. She was leaving a trail. And a very blood one at that. She should have just let the boy get kidnapped versus having a story like this following her. If Kisame made it to the island it would be a no brainer to figure out it had been her. He would be that much closer to retrieving her and she hadn't even made it half way to the Land of Fire yet. She had made a vital mistake in saving the boy but…
The very thought that Naruto or even the Naras finding out she had left a boy to such a fate without lifting a finger sent a cold shiver down her spine.
"But mermaids are just myth are they not?" the king continued, pulling Nagisa from her thoughts. It was a sad smile that crossed the king's face as they laid eyes on each other. "But shinobi are very real and by far more dangerous." Nagisa straightened up under the man eyes.
"My presence here must be silent," she told him honestly, deciding against assassinating the king and prince for silence and therefore causing an even bigger ruckus. She would have to instead plead for his mercy.
"Have you come to steal?" the king demanded.
"No."
"To cause undo harm to any?"
"No?"
"To kill?"
"No."
The king's eyes hardened but there was a wave of despair shrouding his shoulders.
"What if you were paid to?"
Nagisa held on to her mask of indifference. Unsure with just what the king was leading to the young kunoichi treaded as if on clear ice.
"I wish to return home nothing more." The elder gave a solemn node of his head. Standing up from his chair the man walked to the open windows and out on to the balcony. The castle that Hikaru had lead Nagisa to, was nestled deep in the forest that coated half of the Moon Island. The balcony gave a beautiful view of the mountains and city nestled by the shore. With the sun beginning to fall behind the mountain's peak
"I understand the wish to return home. It is of the same vein of my own desire." Nagisa cautiously approached the king when he motioned for her to join him. She did not go near the edge like him, aware that under the balcony would be a good place for an assassin. A burst of chakra told her they were alone but there were such things as sharpshooters. "I am pushing for a change here on this island. A change that not many are pleased with. I had hoped to change their hearts and let them come to me in time but…" The king clenched the railing with wrinkled hands, eyes shut tight against the emotion rolling across his face as clear as the sun. "There is talk of a coup coming to ahead within this castle. I had planned to send my child and grandchild away but with your arrival I believe this will no longer be the case."
The king turned and faced Nagisa. With eyes full of sorrow but his voice full of steel the king spoke,
"I wish for you to assassinate five men within this castle." Nagisa gave a slow blink as she processed what the king was asking. "Shabadaba must of all for he is the ring leader in this grasp for my throne. I ask that you make their deaths swift and painless and as natural as it can be. If it is impossible I will take care of the reproductions but I must still ask that you try."
"Why not simple have them executed?" Nagisa questioned after a long pause. The king hadn't so much as twitched or broke eye contact with her during her debating.
"These men are my advisors. I do not wish for fear to run rampant and I do not wish to embarrass them. These men are…were my friends once upon a time. If I could I would continue to try and work with them, help them see the path for the wonderful thing it is. But…I must think of my son and grandchild. My son is not yet ready to take the throne this I know. He has much growing to do still. And…I fear I no longer have time to try and persuade Shabadaba and his men."
Nagisa fell silent.
Taking her silence as uncertainty the king walked into the parlor. He went to a wall and, pulling down a painting. His fingers slid across the wall before catching and revealing a hidden compartment. The king motioned for Nagisa to join him. Inside the wall Nagisa was greeted with the sight of many jewels and stacks of bound money.
"I do not ask for your services free of charge. In exchange for your help I am willing to part with everything in this safe." Nagisa's round eyebrows shot up her forehead. There was a small fortune before her. Enough that her Master would have gladly killed a hundred men for the king for it would be a large portion of what was needed for his next step.
"…these men must be very important to pay so much for something as natural as death," Nagisa commented.
"There is nothing natural about man killing man." The fact Nagisa actually kept her mouth shut was proof she was maturing. "I am also willing to give you a passage to wherever home is for you."
Nagisa bowed her head when the king looked to again.
"The men shall breathe no more come morning."
Shabadaba would not describe himself as a patient man. It was something he had to cultivate throughout his years of servitude to the King. For his highness was not a quick man but rather a calculating one who looked at things from all angles and all perspectives. It chaffed Shabadaba to no end. Who cared if the civilians suffered if they put in a new mine? They would have jobs and the treasury would increase tenfold! Why did it matter where they put the new resort? The stupid turtles could find somewhere else to lay their eggs! But no, all of these trivial, asinine things matter to the old geezer and therefore it had to matter to Shabadaba.
But not for long!
Yes, his final plan was coming together and soon, very soon, he would no longer be bowing and scraping to that asinine fool of an unfit king.
The shinobi he hired would see to that.
Preening from his internal thoughts Shabadaba made himself ready for bed with dark thoughts and plans dancing in his head.
It was just as he was about to get into the soft sheets of his bed that there was a knock on his door. Snarling, Shabadaba barked for whoever it was to enter with a few threats tossed in for good measure. The door opened and there stood one of his shinobi now. The largest of the three and certainly the ugliest.
"What do you want? This had better be important!" Shabadaba informed the man. Said brute walked into the room swaying ever so lightly. "Well?"
The shinobi fell to his knees glazed eyes rolling back into his head. Shabadaba yelled out when the beast of a man hit the ground fully. Blood coated the shinobi's back, soaking the fabric through.
"Wha—Ishidate!"
A palm closed firmly over Shabadaba mouth and nails dug into his cheeks. A lithe body pressed up against his back. There was a pressure in his side but the hand on his mouth didn't let him look down. But the pain came when he tried to take his next breath. His breath was cut short but the feel of something in his lung. The pressure was removed from his side causing him to cough. Warmth poured down his side. The palm was quick to remove itself in time to avoid the wet that came up with his cough.
Shabadaba instinctively put a hand on where the pain was originating from. Another cough racked his body causing him to stumble. His stumbling allowed him to finally spot the body behind him. But his brain was unable to process what he was seeing.
A child.
A child barely older than the king's grandson stood before him. Shabadaba saw a red coated blade held confidently in her hand. But that didn't keep his eyes. No what caught and held his attention was the girl's eyes. Even hooded they glowed in the dark of his room, pink orbs illuminated by an inner light.
"Wha…" Shabadaba choked out while the girl wiped the blood off her blade. The girl's face was impassive. "What did you…why did you—"
Shabadaba watched with clouding vision as the girl strolled from his room.
Kakeru felt…heavy. And old.
For as long as he could remember he knew the importance of being a king. There were some things were afforded to him that weren't a guarantee to others such as food and warmth. But Kakeru knew that was in order to make sure he was of sound mind and body in order to do what was not expect of others. And that was rule.
And in these ruling Kakeru had had to make difficult choices. He was the final decider on important matters such as exports and imports into his island. It was his ruling that decided if his people continued to eat or had the means to support themselves.
And it was his orders that resulted in life and death.
And tonight it had resulted in death.
It was on his command that tonight five men would die. Five men that he had thought good and wholesome at one point. But time had painted them unkindly. Those he had appointed as leaders and rulers did not have the people's best interest in mind, no. They plotted to take and harm what he had strived his entire life to build.
And they threatened his family.
Kakeru groaned softly and held his head in his hands.
"It is done."
His old heart about gave out from fear. Kakeru jerked in his seat, his old body refusing to move how he wanted and he was stuck where he sat. It was lucky the intruder didn't wish for his death because it would have been easy. Wide eyes found the voice's owner standing right next to him.
It was a girl. A few years older than his grandson. Her features were obviously that of a Land of Water native. Blue hair with pink eyes and skin as pale as milk. It was her clothes that tipped him off as to who the girl was though she looked nothing as she had before.
"You shinobi are wondrous creatures," he muttered. He wasn't sure if this or the other face was the real one but he didn't trust either. The girl made no noise, only continued to stare at him with a bland expression. It was disconcerting with the way her eyes seemed to glow in the moon light.
Their color was strange enough already.
"I have done what was asked of me. Now you will provide what was promised."
Kakeru dipped his head to the child.
"Tomorrow you will have a ship at your command ready to go at first light. The captain of my guard Konge will escorted you personally." He motioned to the sack on the table in the room. The girl's eyes glanced over before settling back on him. "The payment as promised."
The girl walked over to the table and picked up the satchel. She was starting to head to the window but he called out, unable to stop himself.
"Did…did they die peacefully?"
The girl looked over her shoulder and blinked.
Kakeru wished with every fiber of his being that he had let her leave due to the girl's next action. A small…deceptively cruel smile graced her features. Her peeled back lips revealed the rows of sharp teeth that lined her mouth.
Ice filled Kakeru's veins.
It was suddenly all too clear to him that there was a true predator in the room. One that could blend in seamlessly with her surroundings. None would be any the wiser if she killed him and his before disappearing into the night.
Just like she had done on his order for a satchel of jewels and the promise of a ship.
Kakeru felt an intense need to throw up.
"All but one," she answered before her outline jerked strangely and she was gone.
Kakeru, King of Moon Island, puked.
'What have I done?'