Capture
Author's Note: Twelve more chapters to go my friends. Don't forget to check out "Bond: Memories" and request what memory you want to see.
WARNING: Mention of mature subject matter including boobs and bondage sex. If this bugs you, then turn back now...though I'm not really sure how you made it this far.
I don't own the Naruto-verse. I'm just borrowing for the Hell of it.
The past few days had been miserable for his sister and Hizashi didn't know what else he could do to bring her out of it. Maiya hadn't texted for a grand total of four days and a few hours which made Hatomi more distracted and upset the longer she had to wait. At least Hatomi wanted to train now.
Too bad she took out all her frustrations on him, Metal, and Boruto during said training. Now Hizashi saw why she had made chunin over the rest of them. She kicked all three of their asses daily while they went home covered in the coin sized bruises of her Gentle (not) Fist with wonky chakra networks and no feeling in their entire bodies from being beaten up so hard.
At least it was good training.
Hizashi checked his phone in case Maiya had messaged him then shook his head before stretching out in bed. He turned towards the clock and squinted at it to see the time. Twenty-three minutes after one in the morning and he still couldn't get to sleep.
His brain wouldn't shut down about Hatomi or Metal going so forcefully into courting Minako. Metal hadn't tried to woo Hatomi so hard over the past year and Hizashi thought his friend had slipped past the line between cute and stalker. Stopping Metal was like trying to stop the Twin Rising Dragons: next to impossible which meant it was best to avoid it and pick up the pieces once it was over.
Hizashi didn't think there would be much of Metal left to pick up if he got rejected a second time so soon after Hatomi admitted to liking Maiya. Hizashi was starting to agree with mom and dad in wishing they were all less than ten years old again. Stupid life getting complicated as a person got older.
He sighed and sat up. The covers were a struggle to get off as he'd cocooned into them in hopes of going to sleep but Hizashi was free a moment later. Too bad he'd almost fallen out of bed to do it. At least no one had seen the embarrassing tug of war game with the covers.
Hizashi strode out of his room and headed towards the kitchen. He would have a cup of warm milk then read one of those boring history books dad liked and he'd pass out before two in the morning which meant he'd get a three hour nap before Hatomi kicked his ass again.
He did not make it to the kitchen.
Hizashi flung out senbon but the shadow in the front hall shifted to avoid most of them then caught the ones it hadn't avoided in one hand. Hizashi activated his Byakugan and stared as the shadow burst into muted colors. Byakugan picked up more light than a regular eye so Hizashi could now see the shadow for what it was:
An ANBU operative wearing a hawk mask.
"The Hokage is asking for Team Guy and Team Lee's presence immediately for an emergency mission," the ANBU said.
Hizashi blinked. He had to be dreaming. What kind of mission would need mom, dad, Lee-sensei, him, Metal and Hatomi? They weren't at war.
"Did you hear me?" the ANBU questioned.
Hizashi bit his tongue. Pain. Nope. This wasn't a dream. He deactivated Byakugan. Hizashi had a feeling he would be needing it soon so might as well not waste energy.
"Yeah, I'll start waking people up," Hizashi said.
The ANBU nodded. Hizashi turned on his heel and decided it best to wake up Hatomi first. She'd take a bit longer getting her butt moving while mom and dad were used to being woken up whenever to do a mission. Hizashi took a breath before knocking on Hatomi's door then opening it and flicking on her overhead light.
Hatomi groaned before glaring at him from under her covers, body wrapped in a plethora of pink all the way over her head so all he could see was her heated looked. Talk about if looks could kill.
"ANBU. Mission. Hokage. Now," Hizashi said.
He stepped out of the room as she blinked then sat up. One sleeve of her tank top had come down her shoulder but Hizashi didn't linger on how much the sleeve had helped to leave exposed. He walked across the hallway and opened up the door to his parent's room, turning on the light as he went.
Hizashi immediately regretted this decision.
Mom and dad gaped at him, both with wide open mouths, wide eyes, and a flush coming over their faces. Mom was naked, on her back in bed with her legs wrapped around dad's equally naked body. Dad wore a leather collar, complete with a silver chain that mom had wrapped in her hand. In her other hand was a paddle she had been using to spank dad with over the object in dad's ass. Dad was in mid-thrust, half in and half out of mom.
"Er, mission, ah, immediately, sorry, Kami damn it,"
He shut the door with way more force than needed and tried not to think of why his parents had been up at such an early hour having kinky sex. The ANBU snickered at him and Hizashi let out a breath before walking towards his room to get dressed.
He activated Byakugan to grab matching clothes then deactivated it to get dressed. He packed the clothes for back-ups into a scroll before finding the mission scroll he used that had ration bars, bottled water, non-perishables, a tent, some chopped wood and other supplies they might need. Hizashi wrapped his scroll belt around his waist before putting on those two scrolls then considering the rest.
He grabbed his A and G set of Twin Rising Dragon scrolls, his main battle scroll, and a few others then placed them all on his belt. Small scrolls full of either senbon, shuriken, or kunai were tucked into the pockets of his shirt or into his sandals. Hizashi clipped on his med pack, tied his hitai-ate into place then finished by brushing his hair and slinging it into a low pony tail. He had taken seven minutes.
When he came back into the hallway he spotted Hatomi fully dressed in black tights, a purple shirt that ended at her mid-thighs with frills and buttoned up to under her chin, and a black obi with black shinobi sandals. Her hitai-ate was around her neck and she carried a black bag on her back, likely full of at least two sets of clothes. She had braided her hair into a single plait at the back of her head.
Mom and dad were in the hall as well, both in their typical shinobi gear which for dad included black pants, a short sleeved white shirt with the over the shoulder button, and a gray flank vest, with black sandals and his hitai-ate in place to cover the Caged Bird Seal. For mom it was her white qipao dress with flame pattern, fish net stockings, knee high black boots, scroll bracelets, braided buns, and black obi around her waist.
"Yusa-sama's going to take care of Shi and Shun. She's going to move in while we're gone," mom said.
Hizashi was glad she'd answered his would've been question then deactivated his Byakugan again. They left the house with the ANBU operative but the ANBU disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Mom locked the door but left the keys under the mat for Yusa-sama then they all took off, heading for the roofs.
They caught up with Metal and Lee-sensei three blocks from the Hokage tower and for once Lee-sensei looked serious. Metal had his eyes half closed in tiredness and Hizashi wanted to take a picture to have proof Metal could be tired. The thought of pictures left once they hit the stairs of the Hokage building.
Hizashi followed his parents up the stairs at a quick pace and they basically jogged down the hallway. Dad opened the door and they stepped inside the Hokage's office where Naruto-sama sat behind his desk looking as exhausted as everyone probably felt.
Naruto-sama's orange shirt was wrinkled and he had bags under his dull bull eyes that trailed down his cheeks. His short blond hair looked messier than normal and he sagged forward in his rolling chair, white Hokage's cloak bright in the room. The servers for the main frame of the Hokage Tower and school hummed lightly but there were still piles of papers and scrolls all around Naruto-sama's computer.
Shikamaru-sama looked as rumpled and his spiky hair was lopsided. A lit cigarette hung from between his lips and for several moments, Hizashi didn't know what to think of the fact Shikamaru-sama smoked. He'd never seen Shikamaru-sama with a cigarette in his mouth or flicking an older dinged up silver lighter.
"Thanks for coming so quickly," Naruto-sama said.
Apparently this wasn't meant to be answered as he kept talking.
"I got an urgent request from Gaara in my inbox. One of his genin teams left on a mission four days ago to escort the Earth daimyo back to his mansion. Gaara got the head of the daimyo thrown threw his window about an hour ago,"
Hizashi saw black spots taking over his vision but blinked them away. The room had become warmer and sweat gathered at his lower back. He couldn't get enough moisture in his throat but his hands wouldn't be able to hold a weapon with how wet they were.
"What about the team?" dad questioned while looking and sounding as calm as ever.
Naruto-sama shook his head.
"We don't know. I'm sending you guys along the path they would've taken to find either them or their bodies and to see if you can find who did this. You'll be looking for Nakamura Kito, jonin in charge; Tajima Maiya, chunin; Tahara Hogai, genin; and Mino Shigetoki, genin,"
If Hizashi had been about to faint at the mention of a headless daimyo then Hatomi might fall over since Maiya's name came up. At least they knew why she hadn't responded to Hatomi's texts. It wasn't good to know the girl might be dead.
The chances of Maiya still being alive were slim to nill. If the daimyo was dead and she had been escorting him, well. Hizashi looked to Hatomi and saw she had gone paler than normal and her eyes were damp. Her hands had clenched into fists and shuddered a bit but besides that her expression was smooth. Her body was too tense though.
"Neji, you'll be in charge. You know why I'm sending you guys,"
Hell, Shun and Shi would be able to figure out why Team Guy and Team Lee were going on this mission. The Green Beast Teams were always the quickest and the teams that could take the most physical damage but still come out on top. They covered all fronts: close range, mid range, long range, and each of them had a specialty skill to boot.
"Sakura will be joining you guys at the gate,"
And they were taking a med-nin. Naruto-sama wasn't taking any chances. Then that meant...
"I'm considering this an S-rank mission. Normally we don't send two genin but we'll need Hizashi's multi-attack range and colored Byakugan plus having a second person who can open the Gates will help a lot,"
Yep. They would all get a lot of cash for this, over 140,000 ryo each and that was if the mission paid the least amount on the pay scale. Hizashi wouldn't even know what to do with it all besides save it for when he wanted to move out.
"You're to leave immediately. Here's the mission scroll. Come back safe,"
And alive hung in the air but Hizashi decided it best not to mention it. Dad took the scroll, they bowed, and they all headed out. Again they hit the roofs and headed towards the Gates. Dad read over the scroll as they ran, Byakugan activated, and Hizashi noticed they weren't slowing down when the Gates came into view.
He was about to ask but Sakura-sama joined them as dad rolled up the scroll. They left the Village less than a minute later and took to the trees. Hizashi didn't know what to say as dad described the route they would be taking.
"We will rest for a few hours when the sun sets,"
That meant they wouldn't stop tonight and keep moving all through tomorrow. Holy crap. A few hours? It meant maybe a power nap before running again. No wonder genin normally didn't go on these kinds of missions.
"Sounds good. How are we handling the searching itself?" mom asked.
"Once we get to the path we will fan out. Tenten you will go with Hatomi. Metal, Sakura, you will go with Hizashi. Lee, you will be with me. We will take the direct path while Hatomi and Hizashi's groups will go to the edges of my vision perimeter to the right and left, Hatomi right and Hizashi left. Naruto gave us radio communicators good for 1,500 meters so keep that in mind. We will set those before we rest or right after,"
Hizashi was going to be wandering off with Metal and Sakura out of dad's 800 meter vision field which meant Hizashi wouldn't see dad. Dad would want them to go three hundred meters out of his field so in total they would have the whole 1,500 meters from dad to the edge of Hatomi and Hizashi's vision field, if not a little more. Talk about covering a lot of ground.
Dad had also separated them so the long range attackers were on the outskirts of the search area and the med-nin was with the two genin. Dad was damned good.
"Understood?"
Hizashi saw mom, Sakura, and Lee nod, all serious. He nodded along with Hatomi and Metal. At least they'd have a day before the actual search began. Hizashi was going to need the day to mentally freak out before being any kind of useful on this mission. Hatomi would need longer. Thank Kami mom and dad were here.
Hatomi knew she had been on auto-pilot since hearing Maiya's name. She barely registered the fact she would be putting three hundred meters or more between the end of father's vision perimeter on the right and her body with mother as her guardian while Hizashi would do the same on father's left with Metal and Sakura-sama. Lee-sensei would stay with father. They would have radios good for a distance of 1,500 meters which meant she could technically stray her entire vision field away from father's field.
Radio or not she would not dare to get so far unless absolutely needed. Logically there was nothing wrong with father's plan and it was the perfect use of resources to get the mission complete the quickest with the least amount of injury. In her heart, Hatomi did not want to be on the mission for the simple fact of what might happen if she and mother were the ones to find Maiya's body.
Kami, she should have known there had been something wrong when Maiya did not answer her texts.
Hatomi put this out of her mind and concentrated on keeping up with mother, father, and Lee-sensei. No one said what they would all be thinking. If Guy-sama was still able to walk he would be with Hatomi and mother. Guy-sama's bones, muscles, and even veins had been completely obliterated in his right leg and he had lost all feeling in it.
Even if they had amputated and tried a replacement leg like they had replaced Naruto-sama's arm, the new leg would never be able to stand the pressure of Guy-sama's taijustu. Besides, all the nerves were dead to Guy-sama's right hip. The prosthetic would not have even worked. Shinobi missing an arm could still serve depending on the shinobi but one without a leg was useless as they could not run or even walk.
Hatomi pushed these thoughts from her head but her mind whirled with thoughts of Maiya and if the Suna shinobi might even be alive. Maiya might not have even seen Hatomi's text before she, she.
No.
Hatomi could not afford to think of Maiya being dead. If she did then the mission would be over before it even fully started as Hatomi would have a mental break down. So the daimyo had died. It could have meant he ran from his protection and had been captured as no one had been with him. This would mean the enemy had captured the four Suna shinobi and would be holding them hostage for, for.
Damn it.
Hatomi wished she could stop thinking. Activity normally helped and they were running at top speeds through the Konoha trees in the middle of the night. Apparently this activity was not enough to get her mind of Maiya's potential death. The sun rose which made running easier. Mother threw ration bars to everyone from one of her many scrolls but besides the sentiments of thanks being exchanged there was no conversation.
Hatomi could not even remember what rank this mission would be classed as though she assumed S-Rank. She barely remembered half of what Naruto-sama had said after hearing Maiya's name. The fact Hatomi had not simply keeled over and cried astounded her. Saving Maiya or confirming her death came first. Then Hatomi could break down.
The kept quiet as they ran through the trees and Hatomi realized they were in the Land of Rivers all ready. They had to go through Suna then to the Land of Stone. The Earth daimyo would have been escorted through Suna and into Stone to get to Earth which meant the attack could have happened anywhere. The Wind Country's desert was a large area to cover.
No small wonder Naruto-sama had wanted three Byakugan users. The wide open space meant mother and Hizashi's attacks could not be avoided unless the person was a Hyuuga or had a wind style attack. It also meant their search team would be seen for miles away as well. The desert was an unforgiving place.
The sun had begun to go down and they were hitting the middle of the Land of Rivers. Father stopped them and began handing out radios. Hatomi put her transmitter on over her shirt and under her hitai-ate then tucked the ear piece into her ear before adjusting the volume down.
"Test, test, one, two, three," father said.
Mother repeated it then Lee-sensei, Sakura, Metal, and Hizashi. Hatomi had heard them all over her headset as well as in front of her. She spoke and her voice came out calmer than she felt. Everyone nodded. It hit her even with the radios she would not be able to hear Hizashi, Metal, or Sakura-sama. They would be 2,100 meters away. Even so the overall area they could cover in a straight line would be 2,800 since she and Hizashi were putting three hundred between the edges of father's field with their own.
No other team could do what they were about to do. Kiba-sama could not take in a scent so far off and Shino-sensei could not physically see what was so far out until his insects returned to him. They were the best team for the job.
"We will rest for five hours," father said.
Barely a nap considering they had been up for almost twenty-four hours. She had been up for longer. Hatomi had not slept properly in almost a week. They did not bother to set up camp but they did eat a ration bar before father took first watch. Mother would take second then Sakura-sama and Lee-sensei, finishing off with Hizashi who had offered before she could even think of opening her mouth.
Hatomi leaned against a nearby tree and closed her eyes but did not sleep. She heard every motion, slight as it was, of her family and friends. When it came time to move she stood with the others and they headed towards the final stretch of Suna. They hit the desert by mid-afternoon on the same day, day two of the mission.
The heat was oppressive but they did not slow down. Father angled them so they would come onto the path the daimyo would have been led down. It did not take them long to hit the path, according to father anyway.
"Scatter," father said.
They scattered. Mother stayed with her as they angled away to father's right at a forty-five degree angle as Sakura-sama and Metal did the same on father's left side. Soon they all left her vision field and Hatomi saw nothing but sand, an occasional rock, mother, and some cacti. A lizard would be on a rock once in a while but she saw nothing of any kind of struggle.
Every half hour, father checked in with them and Hatomi looked forward to those moments as even though she ran parallel to him she could not see him. He would tell them about Hizashi's group and give updates on him and Lee-sensei as well. It took barely a minute but Hatomi relished in it.
The sun began to set again as they made their way to the Land of Stone. The desert had become much cooler and Hatomi was glad for it. Her skin hurt from the sun and her body was exhausted from running so far in such a short amount of time. They kept moving under father's instruction and would for another half hour.
They would rest apart but Hatomi and mother, like Hizashi, Metal, and Sakura-sama were to move into father's vision field by a hundred meters after his last check in. Hatomi agreed with it all though did not understand fully what they would be doing. Her mind kept lingering on how they would find...
A flash of silver danced at the edge of her vision field. Silver in the desert meant metal which meant she had found either a body or the site where the group had been attacked.
"Metal, five hundred and fifty meters to my front," Hatomi said.
"Weapon or hitai-ate?" father asked.
She couldn't tell and let him know. It was half buried under the sand. Father told everyone they would keep going until Hatomi and mother hit the metal spot. Everyone would stop when they did and once they found out what the metal meant, they would either converge or keep going. Hatomi hoped they did not have to converge.
She kept her eyes on the flash of metal as it glittered in the setting sun. Within moments she and mother hit the half buried metal object. Mother gave the signal they were there as Hatomi went to her knees in the sand. Mother was with her a moment later and she checked for traps. Nothing. Hatomi pulled up the metal object.
She almost dropped the metal weapon and started crying.
Maiya's chakra trench blade, dusty, a bit chipped, but in her hand and not in Maiya's regardless. Hatomi swallowed down her tears and scoured the area with her detailed vision while mother told father what they had found. Hatomi felt her heart jolt when she caught another flash of metal.
"Hitai-ate,"
A hitai-ate attached to a body with no chakra network which meant the person was dead. Hatomi went towards it with mother and again mother checked for traps. Again there were no traps so mother helped Hatomi uncover the body from the sand. Father said he was on his way with Hizashi's team close behind but Hatomi wasn't listening. They had uncovered the face of the body.
It was not Maiya but Maiya's jonin in charge Nakamura Kito. Hatomi had met him a few times while Maiya waited in Konoha to participate in the chunin exams. Now he was dead, a few days at least and Maiya was missing one of her trench knives.
"It's Nakamura Kito, not sure how he was killed yet, we're still uncovering," mother said.
"Roger. We will be there in five,"
"Roger,"
"Fifteen for us,"
"Roger. Over and out,"
Hatomi accepted the little shovel mother brought forth and they continued to dig. Father and Lee-sensei arrived five minutes later, Sakura-sama, Hizashi, and Metal ten minutes behind them. By the time Hizashi arrived the sun had fully set and the body was uncovered. Hatomi was also freezing but said nothing. All she could do was hold Maiya's trench knife in her hand as if she was about to use it.
Father studied the area around them and Hatomi watched. Father's eyes could pick up more than her eyes could so she trusted him. They all looked to Hizashi when Hizashi narrowed his eyes then pointed.
"There's a scrap of fabric, sky blue, attached to a weight and buried under the sand two hundred meters that way," Hizashi said.
She and father would have never seen it. The fabric would have blended in with the sand at this time of night and buried under the sand as it was. Hatomi knew Suna shinobi carried pebble sized weights with them to leave trails for other shinobi to follow. The only one who wore sky blue on Maiya's team was Maiya herself.
She was alive, rather had been alive a few days ago.
"There's another one two hundred meters off the first but a little to my left," Hizashi said.
"Hn, we shall follow the path then in a group. Hizashi, lead the way," father said.
Hizashi nodded with the smallest of smiles on his face then took off. Mother placed a pole on the spot of attack before following and a bright flag, a foot off the ground, waved softly in the breeze. The pole of the flag was so deep it would not blow out by a soft wind. No, even a sandstorm might not be able to pick it out of the ground.
Hizashi pointed out the weight when they got to it but father said to leave it. Mother placed another flag at the point to continue to mark their path for the Suna shinobi. It was Sakura-sama who placed the call to Suna, informing Gaara-sama they would leave the path. Sakura-sama told them they would be getting Suna reinforcements heading towards them in an hour. Hatomi knew the reinforcements would not catch up unless father called for a break.
He did after they placed five more flags. Hatomi sat with the others and accepted the blanket mother gave her. Hatomi did not let go of Maiya's trench knife and no one questioned her on it. The knife might be all of Maiya Hatomi would have left.
Neji widened his eyes when he caught movement at the edge of his vision field. He was exhausted and chilly but Tenten had made a warm meal thanks to her scrolls. The stew sat nicely in his stomach and the blanket she had given him kept off most of the chill. Nothing would block the look on Hatomi's face from his vision.
His daughter gripped Maiya's trench knife like a life-line, her lips set in a scowl where the lower lip trembled as if she wanted to cry. Hatomi's eyes were damp but dim, downcast and focused on trench knife in her hand. Hatomi did not sleep like her brother, Metal, Sakura, her mother, or Lee, nor did she even bother to pretend to sleep. She sat on her blanket, shoulders sagged and spine curved slightly as she considered.
Neji focused on the coming reinforcements and smiled.
Kankuro was all alone but he would be more than enough. With six puppets under his command Kankuro was like six shinobi all rolled into one. He was also one of Suna's faster shinobi and knew the Konoha shinobi well so the mission would not become awkward. Kankuro also knew the desert and surrounding areas well considering all the time he spent traveling across it and into neighbouring lands as Gaara's right hand man.
"Hey," Kankuro said when he was close enough.
"Hello," Neji returned.
Kankuro's dark eyes scanned their little camp and lingered on the sleeping children in turn. A little frown came to his face and he met Neji's eyes, raising one eyebrow under the deep purple war paint.
"My son found the trail. If not for him we would not be having this conversation," Neji said.
Kankuro smirked but nodded. He pulled his hood further down his face to stave off the chill of the air and for once Kankuro's choice of clothing made sense. Neji said nothing about this as he turned back towards the camp.
"Rest for a few hours then we'll head off when the sun rises," Kankuro said.
"Hn,"
Neji turned off his Byakugan before settling beside Hatomi. She glanced at him briefly then went back to staring at the knife in her hand. The trench knife in her delicate hand looked obscene somehow but Neji did not linger on it. Instead he closed his eyes and cleared his mind as Kankuro sat neat the fire.
When Neji began to feel warm he opened his eyes. The sun had started to peek up over the flat line of desert. Neji looked around the camp to see Tenten all ready making breakfast at the fire. Lee and Metal were stretching out limbs gone stiff while Hizashi sat on his blanket with an exhausted look on his face. Hatomi had not moved all night.
She stood when Neji placed a hand on her shoulder then tucked the trench knife into her obi carefully before folding up the blanket. Neji followed then helped gather all the supplies before they ate. Within ten minutes they were following Hizashi again.
Neji still could not see the scraps of fabric Hizashi talked about but Kankuro confirmed every one with a metal detector good for hundreds of meters deep. The desert began to give way to trees but they stopped fifty meters from the tree line. Neji scowled.
They were headed straight for the Land of Rain which considered itself free from the rule of the Five Great Nations and the nations considered hostile. Neji let out a little breath and considered. They had recovered one body which Suna shinobi were picking up now. They had to confirm the deaths of two genin and a chunin.
"There's another weight in the forest," Hizashi mentioned.
Neji inclined his head then glanced to Kankuro. The Puppeteer had a scowl on his face but the look in his eyes was determined. He nodded. Neji glanced to Lee who inclined his head along with Sakura. Tenten's eyes flicked to their children for a moment then to the forest but she too agreed.
"Let us keep going," Neji said.
Hizashi led them forward, into the hostile land, and Neji tried not to tense as much as his body wanted him to. He allowed his eldest son to lead them into enemy territory with his daughter and god-son in tow. His decision to do this would be the reason anyone got hurt and it would weigh on his mind for the rest of his life no matter how small the injury.
They traveled until the sun set again and Neji scowled. Every day they took, no, every hour they took to find the enemy was another hour the captured Suna shinobi would be tortured or worse. He glanced to Hatomi who had taken to holding the trench knife in her hand again. Neji did not know what they would have to do to bring Hatomi out of this if Maiya ended up dead. He would bring her back, no matter what.
"What the?"
Neji blinked and chakra paths, enemies, dozens of them had surrounded them. It had been Hizashi who spoke. Neji gave off directions so Lee, Metal, Kankuro, Tenten, and Sakura could attack. The enemies did not fall and Neji stared.
"Hey, why are we attacking trees?" Kankuro asked.
Impossible. Unless, no then that meant...
"Ranmaru?" Tenten questioned.
Instead of an answer they were attacked by the real enemies Neji could not see with his Byakugan activated. He scowled as he turned off his dojutsu and the enemy Rain shinobi came at him with kunai raised. He knew some of Lee's techniques but the Hyuuga Gentle Fist was lost to him and more importantly, Hatomi.
Neji began his defense, blocking all four coming at him with bare hands. Kunai nicked across his flesh but he was faster and rammed two fingers under the chin of two of his attackers to send off a burst of chakra through their entire skulls.
Both fell dead in front of him and he used one's body to block an attack from one of the ones still living. He tossed the corpse into the coming assailant before turning and kicking the other in the head. Neji's eyes wander to Hatomi who had deactivated her Byakugan and fought with a fury Neji never thought he would see in his daughter.
She used the trench knife as if she had been taught with it, sending out burst after burst of chakra through either blade into the foreheads or necks of her enemies. She eviscerated one while Neji watched and he stared in wonder as his daughter, his Princess, ripped the knife through the enemy's body, became drenched in the blood of the man, and merely kept moving onto the next despite her entire right arm being covered in blood.
Neji turned in time to slam a palm into the sternum of the man coming at him and released chakra into the man's system which caused his heart explode internally. The man he had kicked had risen and Neji took him out with a palm thrust to the throat. Hatomi had run a blade horizontally across a man's throat and blood poured down on her right shoulder, the right side of her face, and down her right side.
His Princess was covered in so much gore. Neji wanted to sit down so he could try to remember she was a shinobi, a chunin, on an S-Rank mission. If she did not fight like this then she would die. Neji took a breath and continued the assault. It would be best not to watch his daughter slaughtering enemy shinobi else he would go insane.
These were the men who had taken Maiya. She did not have to ask them to know for certain. There would be no words as she did not wish to hear the filth coming from their mouths. There would be no reason good enough to rebel against the Five Nations, kill the Earth daimyo, and hold Maiya captive.
More enemies came at her but she did not care she could not use her regular techniques. No, she had Maiya's trench knife and it would be all she needed to dispatch these cretin. And slay she did.
Blood coated the right side of her body from her forehead down to her hips. She did not care. It felt good to slide Maiya's blade through the flesh of the Rain Shinobi and spill the hot blood onto the ground around her and them.
Another slice and the eyes of the man in front of her went dim as he fell over. His scalding blood rained onto her from the separation of skin she had caused across his throat. She pushed his corpse out of her way then leaped, jamming the end of Maiya's trench knife into the forehead of the next enemy. It took a moment for her to tug the blade back but she sent chakra through it which made his head explode.
Bits of brain, blood, and skull hit her legs but she did not mind. She turned and spotted her next target. This one stood frozen in place with his jaw dropped and eyes wide. The kunai in his hand trembled as he raised it when she came towards him.
The blade sung as she swung it through the air towards his throat. Flesh parted, red burst out, and Hatomi realized this one had probably been no older than her. She watched as his body fell back and the kunai dropped. His hands went to his throat where a second gory smile had been rendered.
Hatomi watched him land on his back in the grass as blood seeped between his fingers. His lips were still parted but he screamed for help now, silently as she had taken his voice. His eyes were wide, darting from side to side for any assistance, and he clenched the wound as hard as he could.
She watched as his body began trembling, his eyes rolled back into his head, and finally he went limp. His hands fell from around his throat and landed awkwardly on the grass. His eyes stayed rolled upward but began to glaze over as she watched. His blood dripped down her blade onto the ground beside her as she stared.
The sounds of weapons hitting weapon and the clatter of puppets filled the air and Hatomi looked up from the corpse of the boy in front of her to the rest of her family. Father struck with precision, simple palm strikes or two fingered assaults in vital areas. Little bursts of chakra would fly from the strike and the enemy would fall over dead without blood.
Hizashi used his battle axe, flinging people aside with the bulk of it or literally cutting people in half. Those who managed to dodge lost a limb on the retreat. His blade carried blood but his clothing was mainly clean.
Metal and Lee-sensei kicked and punched their way through enemies leaving behind a plethora of broken limbs, ruptured organs, and fractured skulls. They were unsullied as well but the corpses looked as if they had been dropped from dozens of yards to splatter on the ground. It had likely happened with a few.
Sakura-sama punched through her enemies, literally in some cases with her chakra charged fist going through an enemy's stomach out of his back until she tossed him off as if she threw a wash cloth behind her. Her arm was not covered in blood as the chakra protected it.
Mother used her Bo to smash in skulls or break limbs. She jammed the end through eye sockets or into the stomachs which caused a burst of blood which Hatomi thought did not make sense until mother drew back to reveal a blade on either end of this Bo. Even so, mother had not a drop on her.
Kankuro-sama had disappeared but his puppets had not. Their wooden bodies clattered through the air, slicing, poisoning and otherwise dismembering the enemies around. When the last enemy fell to a palm thrust from father everyone stood in their last position, breathing heavily and waiting for another assault.
"I've got one alive,"
Kankuro-sama jumped down from the trees with one of his puppets. The chest of the puppet opened to reveal an unconscious Rain shinobi. Hatomi left the body of the boy behind to converge with the rest of the team around the unconscious man. Mother tied the man up with chakra blocking rope then looked to her.
Mother's eyes went wide and her lips parted. Hizashi, Metal, Lee-sensei, Sakura-sama, and Kankuro-sama followed mother's gaze and gave her the same stunned look. Metal fell over from it while Hizashi dropped his battle axe. Hatomi looked to father and saw weariness there as well as a bit of sorrow.
"Er, let's get cleaned up," Sakura-sama suggested.
Mother took Hatomi behind a set of bushes before instructing her to strip. Hatomi took off her clothing and saw the blood had seeped through to her undergarments. Luckily mother had brought a washing basin and enough water so Hatomi could rinse off the blood with a cloth. Mother had to help for speed's sake and Hatomi shivered at the touch of the cold cloth on two different areas of her body.
Mother had to change out the water so Hatomi could dunk her head in it and rinse out her hair. Finally, shivering, she was allowed to re-dress in a new set of undergarments, tights, a shirt, and an obi. This shirt, like the other buttoned until under her chin but was in deep blue this time. Hatomi rinsed out her hitai-ate as best she could before wrapping it back around her neck along with the radio. Mother helped her re-braid her hair as Hatomi folded her soiled clothes to be washed when they returned home.
Everything was cleaned up and they strode back into the area to see it devoid of corpses. Hatomi did not ask how the area had been cleaned up nor did she particularly care. The captured shinobi was now dead but father looked pleased yet disturbed.
Hatomi did not enjoy the look.
"He told us where the others are being held," father said.
Hatomi felt a bit of a weight come of her shoulders.
"They were going to use the shinobi captured as hostages and all ready began making arrangements. One body part from each until their demands are met,"
Hatomi gulped and felt her stomach recoil into the knot which had begun to loosen.
"Gaara just told me they got Shigetoki's left hand with a note in it talking about their terms this afternoon, while we were coming here. I called to update him. Anyway, they wanna do a trade: one Konoha shinobi for the three Suna shinobi," Kankuro-sama said.
The knot tightened but Hatomi clenched her hand around Maiya's trench knife. Her throat was dry but all she wanted to do was find more enemy shinobi. She had another change of clothes.
"Who?" Hizashi asked after a tense moment.
"You," Kankuro said.
This time Hizashi did not have his battle axe in hand but the expression on his face still showed awe. Hatomi felt her rage increase and clenched her teeth. She saw father's eyes narrow and his eyebrows come down as a scowl spread over his face. Mother snarled.
"For his Byakugan," father said.
Kankuro-sama nodded.
"For his colored vision Byakugan as well as the potential of his aiming and summoning skills," Kankuro-sama corrected.
It should be impossible for Rain Shinobi to know so much about Hizashi. No one outside of Konoha knew Hizashi's Byakugan came with color as no one could tell by looking at him. People may have learned he could summon like mother but his eyes were a secret among friends and Hyuuga relatives.
"They can't know that unless we've got a rat in Konoha," mother said.
"More like a snake," father muttered.
Orochimaru. Hatomi would kill him when she got back to Konoha. Capturing Maiya to use as a hostage was one strike. Wanting to trade Maiya for her twin brother, the snake would be poached.
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Sakura-sama said.
"It's a pretty damned good conclusion," mother snarled. "There aren't a lot of people outside of our families and the Hyuuga Elders that know Hizashi has a colored Byakugan. Mitsuki would've told his father about it though and why should we trust the man who almost killed my son?"
Sakura-sama took a large step back from mother who had summoned a series of kunai into her hands and spun towards Sakura-sama while radiating killing intent. Hatomi watched as father took a step forward and placed a hand on mother's shoulder. She knocked off father's hand with a growl but father hummed at her. A staring contest began and mother huffed before glaring at the ground in defeat.
"Right, anyway, they said we'll get a piece of Hogai tomorrow then Maiya," Kankuro-sama said.
His words did well to fill the tense silence but did nothing to relieve the stress in anyone's faces. Hatomi still felt the need to run and hurt something.
"The base where they're being kept at is a half day from where we are. Even if we leave now we won't get there before they take said piece of Hogai. Plan?" Kankuro-sama asked.
Everyone looked to father who hummed. Father looked to Hizashi who blinked at him before glancing at mother who raised an eyebrow at him. Another staring contest but Hatomi jolted with everyone else when mother slapped father in the face forcefully enough to leave a hand print and almost knock father off his feet.
"You will not use our son as bait," mother yelled.
"Then come up with a better tactical decision," father said.
His voice was quiet but firm. Mother stared at him for a few moments, seething then turned on her heel, putting her back to father and crossing her arms under her chest with a sound of anger. Father sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"We will rest for a few hours then head to the base in the morning. When we get close enough, Kankuro, you will tie up Hizashi then—" father began.
"Wait, what?" Hizashi broke in.
Father huffed. He could not honestly be thinking of leading Hizashi into the base.
"Allow me to finish," father said. "You will be tied up yes, but in such a way that one tug will set you free. We will take your weapon's belt and other various packs but you will be keeping scrolls in your shirt. Once we have the hostages in our sight, we will attack. Do you honestly believe I would simply give you to them?"
Hatomi let out a breath as Hizashi flushed then shook his head. Father hummed and explained the rest of the plan. Hatomi did not want to rest once he was done but she had no choice. In eight hours Maiya would be safe. Hatomi clung to this hope as she closed her eyes for the night. Tomorrow. Everything would be fine tomorrow.
And cut. Ha. Sorry. Not really. *winks* Reviews welcome.