"You killed them," she snarled, her voice grating out around clenched fangs. She'd never hated
anyone so much in her entire life. It consumed her, forcing out all reason. "And for what? Revenge? Did you hate them?"
"Oh no, sister dear," a blonde woman purred. She seemed totally unconcerned with her twin standing there in a pool of her own blood. She had a person, a man, but the hair. He was dead and dried blood caked his forehead-protector, engraved with Kumogakure's symbol. The blonde woman, her eyes a shining, sinister black, plunged her hand into his chest to extract his heart. It twitched in her claws. "I killed them because I hate YOU. You took my power, my life… and I'll do it again." The man's face was Katsuo's. A second later, his stone-colored hair turned coal-black and his eyes a deep Torakiba amber. It was Katsuro.
She sat up straight, hand clamped over her mouth so that she wouldn't scream. Her heart thundered in her chest as if it were trying to break free of her ribcage. She'd fallen asleep at her desk again and knocked over a pot of ink as she fought to get out of the over-sized office-chair. She tore out of the office and up to the Message Nest. It was one of those rare times when a jounin was on duty. "I need the fastest birds to get to Konoha and Suna," she panted. "Hikaru is back."
They were close to their destination, she could feelit. Her proverbial hackles were on end. In Katsuro's case, he didn't have proverbial hackles like Suzume. He'd been growing more and more animalistic lately, and it was starting to freak her out. The same thing with Tsubasa, too. Just the way he'd cock his head to the side when someone spoke, the weird jerky movement of his walking, and just his posture reminded her forcibly of some grounded pigeon. She wasn't doing so well, either. Her eyes itched constantly and she got endless head-aches. Standing too close to Kotone gave her heat rash, being within a foot of Haku made her skin numb, and going anywhere near Haruki made her angry and antsy. And Kameyo… she could swear that the ground was talking to her if she went too close to the Iwagakure girl.
The land was only slightly marshy, now, and was littered with rocks. Kameyo sniffed the air appreciatively. "It smells more like home," he sighed. "How long's it been, eh?"
"Too long." Katsuro growled. Quite literally, growled."Damn seal… itches like crazy."
"But they're wearing off," Kotone added. Her lips were cracked and bled whenever she spoke. Her eyes were permanently glassy with some kind of inner fever and her once gloriously white hair had the consistency of straw. She often walked arm in arm with Haku, balancing each other out as his lips were blue with cold and his teeth chattered constantly.
They'd been allowed to rest and apparently were waiting for something. The guards were tense and circulated around the small group. "I want… a steak." Katsuro said into his knees, drawn up to his chin. "Rare."
"Why wait for a steak?" Haruki wanted to know. "Just eat Sora."
"Please stop calling me that," Tsubasa said, too tired to be irritated. "And if you try anything, Torakiba, you'll find a sharp talon- damn, fist in your rumbling gut."
"I'mstarving," Katsuro sighed. In fact, he did look a bit paler and peakier than the rest. His dietary requirements, even when mostly human, centered around the red and salty. He stared hungrily at the back of one of the guards. "If I wasn't sure that they would taste so foul, I'd try one of them."
"That's barbaric!" Tsubasa hissed.
"I agree with Katsuro," Suzume murmured, leaning against Haruki even though it made her irritated. He had his fore-arm draped over his eyes, shutting out the bright moonlight. She could feel his muscles twitching spasmodically, almost as if something alive infested them. "I'd tear off their heads and play ten-pins with them."
"I call first roll," Haruki chuckled wearily. Suzume always kept one eye on him. He was still Haruki, but… twisted, somehow. He'd let them in on the plan and she couldn't wait to get away but couldn't help but feel something wasn't right. She felt they were missing some key point but couldn't tell what it was.
Finally, one of the guards came out of the night. "Get them up!" she hissed, indicating the captives. "Master's ready. Into the cave, let's go!"
"Judgment is yours. We're going in," Haruki mouthed. They all took up their chains and followed into the blackness that was night.
"They're going in," Hamono whispered, having read her little brother's lips. "On guard, everyone. We follow. Stealth, no chakra." There were a number of nods of ascent but a sudden squeal from Asuka. They all turned to look at her.
"Can't you be quiet?" Hanami wanted to know, but Asuka pointed to the pug perched on her thigh.
"It's got weird eyes."
"It's wearing… a vest." Miho stated.
"Is it safe?" Izumi wondered while Jun went forward to sniff it. When he fathomed a growl, the other dog spun about.
"Paws off!" it yapped.
"No way… it's one of Kakashi's!" Namiki whispered in awe.
"Message for you kids," he barked again. Kazuki held out his hand and the dog spat a scroll into his palm, along with a lot of dog slobber, and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Ewwww…" Koga said. Yuuta nodded in agreement. Kazuki, making a disgusted face, handed the scroll to Izumi, his eyes clearly saying, "At least you can read it aloud."
Izumi broke the seal, hands trembling. She smoothed the paper out and held it under a shaft of moonlight that trickled through the canopy of trees. Haruki-bunny, perched on her shoulder, leaned forward to get a better look. Slowly, she began to read.
"If this gets to you, assume that you are alive and that you are in big trouble when you get back." Miho made a face. "Megumi's fine. Dug up H in Nara Forest. Kidnapper apparently cultist. R Kage says H Torakiba is culprit. Sacrifice hearts of k-g users to god(s) for eternal life and great power. Attempted 15 yrs ago by same on K Fukamori and Ina. Torakiba. STAY HIDDEN. DON'T MOVE. ANBU& Jounin Teams already on way.
-Kakashi"
"Stay hidden… don't move…" Namiki murmured.
"I highly doubt that we are going to obey those commands," Yuuta observed. Asuka chuckled.
"They couldn't possibly know how close we are," Miho said reasonably. "So that basically nullifies the last few bits."
"But… who's H Torakiba?" Koga demanded, taking the scroll from Izumi and scanning it.
"It must be… but it can't, she died years ago… Hikaru Torakiba, Oba-san's twin." Izumi said tensely, hands clenching into fists. "It must be. I don't think Obaa-san could have done it. Her name starts with 'H', but Hikaru is FULLY capable of it. She was an S-Class criminal when they finally found out what she was doing. They thought she was dead but she ended joining Atsu… Akitsu… what's that old group?"
"Akatsuki?" Hanami offered. Izumi snapped her fingers.
"Yeah! Akatsuki! She was with the Akatsuki for a bit then we THOUGHT Oba-san killed her. There was proof and everything."
"You can't just kill your twin," Asuka said, unusually soft. She exchanged smiles with Kazuki. "No matter what they do, they're still a part of you."
"Then who's K Fukamori and Ina Torakiba?" Hamono was reading through the parchment with her Byakugan.
"Inazuma Torakiba was my dad's aunt," Izumi said.
"And the Rokudaime Raikage," Yuuta added. "Apparently, she got her name for her lightning-based attacks."
"Katsuo Fukamori was our uncle but he was killed before we were born," Kazuki signed. "And he's Katsuro's dad."
"He's Katsuro's dad? I didn't know that!" Asuka cried, shocked. They all made shushing noises at her. "When did he tell you that?"
"It's kind of obvious," Kazuki signed impatiently. "They look pretty much the same, for starters. Plus when I asked he told me."
"He never told me," Asuka scoffed. "I always thought his dad was some missing ninja or whatever." Kazuki smacked her upside the head and they subsided into a silent scuffle.
The first thing they noticed was the darkness. Second, the smell. It was like rotting meat, all cloying sweetness and a stench you could almost taste. Kameyo was instantly sick, but no one noticed. Suzume's eyes watered and she struggled to breathe through her mouth. Tsubasa coughed and hacked as if the scent was a physical thing that was tearing at his lungs. "Holy crap," Haruki whispered. "What the hell is that?"
"Corpse," Kotone croaked. "It's corpse stench."
"No, you think?" Katsuro wretched. "It's like the friggin' coast during whaling season, but in the summer!"
The guards leading them in suddenly turned tail and ran out of the mouth of the cave, dodging around stalagmites. Suzume started to lunge after them but Haku's grip on the collar of her shirt saved her from running face-first into a wall of spikes. The cave mouth was sealed, leaving them in utter darkness.
"Is everyone all right?" there was a flicker and a minute flame appeared, illuminating Kotone's face as it danced in the palm of her hand. "Nii-chan, a little help?"
"I'm working at it." A ring of tiny ice-mirrors encircled the minuscule fire, reflecting and rebounding the light so that it shone like a light-bulb. They were immediately sorry that they could see what was around them.
"It's times like these that I wish that life a RESTART button," Kameyo squeaked. Haruki bent down to scratch at the floor with a fingernail.
"Holy-" what he was about to say was lost in a shriek that Suzume hadn't meant to let out. They all looked at her, startled. Her Sharingan flickered on and off as she stared in horror all around them.
"The whole place is painted with blood," she whispered. "Blood on the ceiling, on the walls, on the floor-" she stopped as someone clapped a hand over her mouth. She wanted to shriek at the coldness but a familiar voice said, "Hush, Suzume-san. Kotone-chan?"
"Katon Karyuu Endan!" Kotone's white fingers glowed dimly as they flicked through a series of hand-signs and she blew a thin stream of fire all around them. It hit the dried fluids on the floor and blazed into life with a small cry of pain from Kotone. Her knees gave out and burns wrapped around all of her visible skin.
"Sorry… I forgot." Haku muttered, turning red as he helped his friend back to her feet.
"No problem," Kotone wheezed. "Nothing to worry abo-"
"The stones say someone's close!" Kameyo whispered suddenly. "The blood is- AAAAAGH!"
"Damn," Tsubasa grumbled, bobbing his head and staring around at what had grabbed the Iwagakure girl.
A man stood there, eyes as black and blank as a doll's but lacking any sort of button-like shine. He hefted Kameyo easily by the throat, watching them impassively. His stone-colored hair was flecked with dried blood. The blonde fought and gasped, swearing and trying to dig her nails into the thick, quilted fabric of the man's jacket.
Haruki immediately dashed forward, giving up all hopes of using hand-signs and using just Taijutsu. But the man was jounin level at least. He had Haruki in his other hand by the shirt-collar. The others spread out, ready for a fight. "C'mon, Katsuro! What's the matter with you?" Suzume cried. But Katsuro just stood, staring up at the man's face. His face.
"D….dad?"
Author's Note: DUNDUNDUUUUUUN!!! Hahahah. I love you guys. "Stone-colored hair", hello! You should've figured it out before I gave it away. And Hikaru… well let's just say that she's a real piece of work, oki? And I needed to torture Hidan just a liiiiiittle bit more. He's such a potty mouth. But we love him anyway, ne? I had writer's block for a few weeks at the end of this chapter and am trying to make the chapters longer so I don't clog your inboxes incessantly. Ja, matane!
OH MY GOD IT'S ALMOST THE END. SIX MORE CHAPTERS. I'll prolly post them all today. DX
